


The Dragon Temple

by ColdSerenity



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Bonding, Dragon!Lisa, Dragon!Mick, Dragons, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Interspecies Relationship(s), Jealousy, M/M, Mpreg, Relationship(s), dragon!Len
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2018-11-28 07:51:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 64,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11413476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColdSerenity/pseuds/ColdSerenity
Summary: Being a Keeper sounds amazing to Barry. You get to care and play with dragons all day. The only risk is if one bonds with you... but he is pretty sure that won't happen. Too bad there is a certain blue-eyed dragon that thinks otherwise.





	1. Dragons Can Do What!?

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Храм дракона](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11732907) by [kotokoshka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kotokoshka/pseuds/kotokoshka)



 

 

Barry finally made it.

He was staring at the large wooden gates that lead to the Dragon Temple. It had taken him seven very long days on foot to finally reach it, but he was finally here.  

This was the beginning of his new life.

He felt like he had lived in a box his entire life up until now. The village he had grown up wasn’t a bad place at all. It was small, hidden in the forest, and safe. Joe was the leader, and he always made sure everyone had what they needed. He was the one that took Barry in when he was about ten, after his parents died.  

His parents had been wonderers. His father was a doctor and he enjoyed moving from place to place, offering his services where they were needed. Joe’s village was a frequent stop for them since they were very close friends. Barry always liked stopping there, Iris was fun to play with. Unfortunately, it was after one of these visits that the attack happened.

They had left the village, heading out to a new location, when bandits decided to attack. Barry’s father never had anything of value on him, so out of anger, they attacked them. Barry watched in horror as the bandits stabbed his father for trying to defend them, his last words telling his mother to run. She didn’t waste time, she grabbed Barry and took off, running into the woods. The bandits chased after her, but she was able to get a lead of them. She knew she was not going to be able to out run them, so when the opportunity came up, she hid Barry under a rotting log. She quickly gave him her pendant to keep and made him swear he would not leave that spot no matter what he heard. She ran off and Barry did as he was told, even when he heard her scream in the distance.

Barry spent the entire night out in the woods, crying, holding his mother’s pendant for dear life. In was close to sunset the next day by the time he heard people calling his name. He still didn’t move until he finally saw Joe’s familiar face.

Joe took him in, treating him like his own son from that day on. Barry could never pay him back for everything he had done for him. He was never short of anything thanks to him, and he and his family made sure to make Barry feel like one of them. His children Iris and Wally were his siblings in his mind.

Barry loved them all dearly, but he couldn’t stay there. He felt like he had another purpose. He still remembers what it was like, going from village to village helping folks, the faces of the people his father would care for, how grateful they all were, how happy he made them. Barry wanted to do the same. He didn’t have his father’s knowledge of medicine, so he couldn’t do exactly the same, but he wanted to be helpful somehow.

That is what brought him here, the Dragon Temple.

Dragons were the most sacred creatures in the entire land. A few lived out in the wild, but most liked staying in the temples that were built for them, where they were tended to by Keepers. The job was pretty easy… sort of. Your job was to care and maintain the temple and all its residents, the dragons. The hard part was that the dragons could be very difficult to care for, most were very pretentious.

Barry didn’t care, he was up for the challenge. It was a great honor to care for them, and Barry would be fulfilling his need to help, even if they were dragons and not humans.

Barry knocked on the wooden gate, excitement starting to rise up in him. He had never seen a dragon before and he honestly didn’t know much of what being a Keeper would imply, but he couldn’t wait to get started. He figured his lack of knowledge would be made up by his willingness to help.

The door slowly opened and revealed a blond man about Barry’s age. He looked at Barry up and down and gave him an unimpressed look.

“Can I help you?”

Barry’s hand shot up to rub the back of his head, “umm… hi! I’m Barry. I’m here to see if I can become a Keeper?”

The man huffed, rolling his eyes and stepped back, welcoming Barry inside. Barry grabbed his bags with his belongings and stepped in.

“Follow me.”

Beyond the large walls that surrounded the area, Barry could finally see the size of the temple. It was enormous, looking more like a small town, taking up half the mountain. The area closest to the wall was mainly farm areas where they cared for the cattle and grew the food for both human and dragons. Beyond that started small stone homes where Barry could see the Keepers doing their chores. Some were packing the wheat that had been collected from the fields. Others were loading up fresh breads, fruits, and even some meats onto carts that were going to be taken up to the Main Temple.

“This is amazing!” Barry said in awe.

“A lot larger than you were expecting,” the man said with a chuckled.

“Yeah…”

“That is what everyone else thinks when they get here. I’m Julian by the way, the guardian to the gate.” He turned and gave Barry a polite smile… it almost seemed genuine.

They started making their way through what Barry saw as the ‘town’ area. He watched as kids ran around playing, laughing with one another, which confused Barry.

“I thought Keepers couldn’t have families?” That was one of the main arguments Joe had given him when he said he wanted to come here.

“We are discouraged from having one, but it’s not enforced. They will just have to suffer the consequences if need be.”

Barry turned to him, “consequences?”

Julian laughed, “You don’t know much, do you?”

“No,” Barry said embarrassed, “I just want to help, but that is as far as I know about all this.”

“Well Barry, being a Keeper is almost seen as being a monk. It’s takes your full devotion.”

“Well I know that much, which is why I’m confused about the families, I was always told Keepers can’t have them.”

“Like I said, it’s discouraged. You see, dragons are incredibly finicky creatures. Just a regular one on a normal day is hard to make happy, but that is our job. The risk we run being so close to them is that a dragon might bond with one of us at any moment.”

“Bond?”

Julian huffed again, “wow, you weren’t kidding about knowing nothing. Bonding is a word that is use when a dragon finds it’s mate, it bonds with that dragon, or in our case, human.”

“Humans and dragons can be mates?” Barry asked shocked.

“Yes, it doesn’t happen often, but there is always the chance.”

“Wow, how does that work?”

“I won’t go into that detail, I will let Wells or someone else explain that part. Anyways, you at least know that dragons love treasure, right?”

“Yeah, of course. They all have their little hoard of jewels and gold,” Barry laughed.

“Well it’s not all jewels and gold. Dragons love shiny, pretty things, so it varies from dragon to dragon since it depends on what they like. If one loves the color blue, you will find things from a blue jewel to a blue book or even a blue pencil in its hoard. Some hoards may not have anything valuable to us, but to the dragon, it is its most precious thing.”

Barry laughed at the thought of a dragon finding something like a pencil precious.

“When a dragon bonds with a human, that human becomes it’s treasure, and that is where the risk of you having a family comes in. The dragon will not care, you will become his or hers and he or she will expect you to be just as devoted to them as they are to you. If you try to keep your family, the dragon will kill them out of jealousy.”

Barry stopped and looked at Julian. “What?”

“Thus why families are discouraged,” he rolled his eyes, “If you bond with a dragon after having a family, you will have to abandon them for their safety. Dragons do not share.”

Good thing Barry had pretty much come to terms with not having a family. He shook his head and continued up the mountain with Julian. They were nearing the end of the town area where there was a small wooded area before the Main Temple building started. Barry kept looking around and pouted.

“I would have thought I would have seen a dragon by now?”

“The dragons like to stay in the Main Temple. So you are about to start seeing them.”

“Really? But I thought some were huge and stuff. I thought I would see them even outside of the gate.”

Julian shook his head at him, “Wow…” he said sarcastically, “ok, yes, dragons vary in sizes, some being tiny, others as big as mountains. But over the centuries, they found that being incredibly large was a disadvantage in the wild. So they learned a very neat trick where they can morph their bodies to a more ‘manageable’ size. The largest ones you will see around here are probably the size of a large dog.”

“Really?” That was interesting.

“You will see a few that need to ‘stretch their legs’, so they will go into their actual size for a while. There is a large plain on the other side of the mountain where some of our larger dragons go and morph.”

Barry grinned. He couldn’t wait until he got to see one of them transform. He was dying to see one of the large ones in person.

They took the last steps and found themselves at the entrance way of the Main Temple. The large building was made of a mix of stone and sand, with a beautiful wooden roof. The entire building was one floor, but it stretched back and around farther than Barry could make out. There was a stream that made it’s way around the entire building, and went into a large pond on the side. It was there that Barry saw the first few dragons. They were lounging around the pond, some swimming, others just sun bathing on some of the stones around the water. Barry stopped and gaped. They were all different colors, shapes and sizes. Some were incredibly tiny, the size of just his hand, while others were much larger.

Barry felt the air move around him and he looked up. Above a small dragon flew past them and landed on the roof of the Temple, joining a few others that were now there. There was growling behind Barry and he turned. A medium sized one, looking grumpy, behind him, huffed up at him, smoke coming out of its nose.

“I believe you are in his way,” Julian smirked.

Barry jumped out of the way and watched him walk towards the water, grumbling to himself. Barry’s mouth couldn’t close.

“There are a lot of dragons out here!”

“And this is just the front, you haven’t seen anything yet. Come on, Wells is the leader of this temple, and he will be the one to assign you your tasks.”

They made their way through the main door and walked inside the cool building. Barry looked around at the walls and hallways, finding small nests in any hole there was on the walls or around the beams of the ceiling.

“They just make nests anywhere?”

“Some yes, but it all depends on how trusting they are. Dragons hate when there are trespassers in their nest, so while there are some that don’t mind having theirs out here,” he pointed to the random ones they were passing, “most hide theirs around the temple. There are a lot of garden areas around here so most have their nests hidden out there, some in trees, others underground. We try to mark the nests of those dragons that are the most dangerous, but they will sometimes move, so always be careful. Just remember, if you are walking and your hear growling, move away, you are probably nearing someone’s nests. We have had a few Keepers lose their limbs because they weren’t paying attention.”

Barry swallowed. _Wow, dragons didn’t play_.

They made their way through the building until they reached a small office. Julian knocked before entering and there they found who Barry assumed was Wells. The man turned and looked at Barry curiously before turning to Julian for an explanation.

“He is here to be a Keeper.”

“Oh, a new recruit, marvelous. We need all the help we can get.”

Barry smiled brightly, “Good, because I’m here to do just that!”

“He has no idea about anything, I gave him a quick briefing, but he is definitely still a green horn.” Julian said dryly as he nodded at Barry and walked out of the room.

Wells chuckled, “forgive him, he always forgets his manners. I’m Harrison Wells, the leader of this temple.”

Barry stepped forward and extended his hand, “I’m Barry Allen, pleasure to meet you.”

“Barry,” he repeated as he shook his hand, “Well, how about we assign you a room and give you a tour.” He guided Barry back out of the office and started walking further into the temple. They finally reached an area that became several hallways, all looking exactly the same.

“These are our dormitories. They are little rooms, but you won’t be spending too much time in them anyways, just for sleeping really.” They started down one of the hallways, turning and passing what looked like the same door over and over again. Barry looked a bit worried, he already knew he was going to get lost several times. As if reading his mind, Wells laughed, “everyone gets lost at first, no worries.”

They finally stopped at the end of one of the many, MANY hallways they took and Wells opened the door. The room was quite small, only a small bed on the right, up against the wall sideways, and a small dresser and desk on the other side. The small window on the far wall let in a bit of light, but not much. Barry walked in and put down his bags.

“You can leave those there, lets go show you around. By the time we finish it should be supper time.”

Barry smiled as he walked back out of the room and Wells handed him a small key for his room. He assured Barry humans stealing wasn’t something that went on around the temple. They were completely self-sustained, so money was of no value, thus stealing was meaningless. He did warn that some dragons might take a few things here and there if it was to their liking however, thus the key.

They made their way back out of the dormitory, heading towards the garden area.

“So are you excited?” Wells turned to him.

“Like you wouldn’t believe! I can’t believe this place is so large.”

“Yeah, we have to accommodate for everyone that volunteers and of course we get new dragons every day.”

“Wow!” Barry smiled. He couldn’t believe this was going to be his life from now on. This place was incredible. Even as they continued walking, he kept seeing dragons left and right. Some playing, others sleeping in the most uncomfortable looking positions making Barry laugh.

“So how does this work? Am I assigned to a dragon or something, or what?”

Well chuckled, “no, we don’t assign anything. You are placed at a job where we feel you will do best and that is about it. There are, however, a few dragons that meet a human and get attached to them, so they will become friends. That usually means that dragon will follow the human around as they do their chores.”

“Is that the bonding thing Julian mentioned?”

Wells looked at him with a smirk, “no, what I’m talking about is completely platonic. Bonding is actually mating. That doesn’t happen often. In the entire continent, we have five temples set up. Within all those temples, there are only seven human-dragon bonded pairs. We currently have two of those seven.”

“Oh!”

“Yeah, like I said, it’s very rare.”

“But I’m still confused as to how… you know… well… umm…” Barry wasn’t sure how to state his question without sounding like an idiot.

Wells laughed, “everyone that comes here has that question Barry. There are a lot of dragons you will meet that are not that powerful. They are usually on the smaller scale, and I mean their normal forms, not morphed forms. You can tell when they are the weaker ones since they don’t actually talk.”

“Dragons talk!?”

“Yes Barry, they talk, well the more powerful ones do. Along with being able to morph, they also have a human form.”

Barry stared at Wells as if he had grown a second head. He chuckled as he continued.

“It’s these dragons that will bond with a human, since they can change so they can umm… ‘be together’ with their mate.”

Barry was left dumbfounded. There was so much he didn’t know. He would have never guessed in a million years that dragons would pick humans to be their mates.

They finally reached another double door that lead outside to the large garden area. Barry’s breath was taken away at the sight. Julian had been right, he had seen nothing yet. The garden expanded further than Barry could see. There were fruit trees and flowers everywhere, and dragons covered the entire area.

“How do you take care of all of them?”

“Like I said, we need all the help we can get.”

Wells sat back and let Barry take in the sight a bit more. Barry turned and saw a young man with dark long hair walk up to Wells.

“Cisco! I’m glad you are here. This is Barry, a new recruit.”

Cisco smiled at him, “Awesome! It’s always great to have a new face. Hey, I’m Cisco!” He waved.

Barry smiled at him, extending his hand, “I’m Barry, great to meet you.”

Cisco looked at his hand, wincing, before looking back up at Barry, “sorry, can’t shake, unless you want to lose that limb.”

Barry gave him a confused look when he noticed Cisco’s shirt was moving around. Something made its way up his chest and popped it’s head out the collar. Barry stared as a beautiful blue-eyed dragon glared back at him. The dragon was small, barely larger than his hand, and its skin was very slick looking, almost like it didn’t have scales, or they were too small to see. There were two tiny horns at the top of its head, and a pair of wings half way down the torso. It’s body was completely gold and shone incredibly bright in the sun. The small creature climbed out of Cisco’s shirt and propped itself on his shoulder, still glaring at Barry. It was slim and long, specially its tail. If it weren’t for the tiny legs and wings, it would almost be a golden snake. 

“Barry, this is Lisa,” when he didn’t continue, she growled at him. Cisco rolled his eyes with amusement, “my mate.”

She huffed as the pushed her chest out proudly at Barry. “How do you do,” she spoke.

Barry couldn’t help but gawked at them and then turned to Wells.

“Yes Barry, this is one of the two bonded pairs we have in this temple,” he said amused.

“This is incredible!” Barry smiled, “I can’t believe it… and you talked! Wow!”

She rolled her eyes, “well if you monkeys can talk, of course we can too.”

“Hey! I’m one of those monkeys!” Cisco looked at her.

She smiled as she started climbing his head, laying at the very top and kissing his forehead, “no, you are my treasure.” He tiny claws started playing with his hair.

Cisco shook his head and addressed Barry, “dragons…”

“Cisco, would you mind giving Barry here a quick tour before dinner? I figure you two will get along pretty well. I need to find out where we are going to assign him.”

“Sure!” he smiled brightly at Barry.

Wells let them be and they started making their way through the temple, Cisco constantly telling him facts about each area. Barry was enthralled, he couldn’t believe how little he had known about dragons. He did make sure to keep his distance from Cisco, apparently Lisa was quite protective and didn’t like anyone touching her ‘Cisquito’ as she called him.

They weren’t able to reach every single area of the temple by the time dinner was ready. Cisco guided Barry to the dining hall and invited him to eat with him and his friend Caitlin. Barry accepted the invitation gladly, he hated eating alone, and he didn’t know anyone else.

They grabbed their food and went to go find a place for them to sit. His friend Caitlin joined them a few minutes later. Barry noticed there was a large dragon following her, reaching her waist line as it walked in all fours. The creature was very stout and muscular, with a very short tail. It didn’t have any wings and the skin was very rough looking, almost like stone, and it was bright red in color. He had two large horns coming up from his head and smaller one on his snout. She finally sat down by Cisco and looked at Barry cautiously.

“Cait, this is Barry, he is new.”

“Oh… hello,” she said softly.

“Barry, this is Caitlin, she is pretty shy. The rock monster following her is her mate, Mick.”

The dragon glared at Cisco, giving him a threatening growl.

“Cisco, don’t be mean to Mick.” She turned and looked at him, “don’t pay attention to him, you know you are the most precious thing to me.”

Cisco smirked at Barry, “dragons love to be worshiped,” he whispered.

Barry laughed and lifted a bit up, to get a better look at him, “Hello Mick, I’m Barry.”

“Hi,” the grumbled, not really paying attention since Caitlin was petting his head.

“So you must be the second mated pair, right?” Barry looked at Caitlin. 

“Yup!” She smiled shyly at him.

“This is crazy. I still can’t wrap my head around this. I had no idea dragons and humans could be mates.” Barry smiled.

She cocked her head to the side, “really? Most that come here know that much, since that is the risk they are taking by volunteering here.”

Barry blushed, “yeah, I don’t know much about any of this, but I really want to be helpful somewhere, and I figured where better than to help dragons.”

Caitlin laughed as she nodded, “good, we definitely need more people like you around.”

Barry continued asking questions left and right as they ate their dinner. He was fascinated with how complicated caring for dragons were. After they finished, Cisco left Barry with Caitlin to go run a few errands he needed to take care of before turning in for the night.

Caitlin asked him to accompany her outside so Mick could get out his last few fire breaths before going to bed.

“He loves watching his own flames,” she said amused, “and it helps him sleep, so we come out here and I let him play around a while.”

They were currently sitting in a small patch of grass. The sun had already set and the sky was slowly getting darker. Mick was further down the garden, letting out small flames from his mouth that would drift up into the air until disappearing. Even Barry was a bit mesmerized by it. He finally looked at Caitlin who was watching Mick lovingly.

“So how did you end up here? With Mick and all?” Barry asked.

“It’s not a happy story.”

Barry frowned, “I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me, I didn’t mean to pry.”

“I don’t mind really, just giving you a small warning.” She smiled at him before turning back and looking at Mick again. “I used to live in a small village near the coast. I was training to be the doctor there, and I was really good at it, still am actually. My main problem had been I was extremely shy. But then I met this guy named Ronnie, and he helped me be more social. Before I knew it, I was in love and engaged to him. I felt like my life was going in the direction it was supposed to.” Her smile dropped, “but then we were attacked. It was just a bunch of no-bodies, but they robbed us of our food and then set the houses on fire before leaving.

“Ronnie and I got out easily, but there had been a lot of elders that weren’t so lucky. Ronnie started running into the houses to help them…” she swallowed, “he got a few out, but when he went into another home to someone else, the beams of the house gave out and the roof fell in. Neither one made it.”

Barry’s hand automatically came up to give her a small hug, but he paused, remembering she was bonded. She noticed the movement and chuckled.

“You don’t have to be that careful with me as you are with Cisco. If Mick likes you, you can touch me.”

“How do I know if he does?”

“You are sitting next to me aren’t you?”

Barry looked at Mick who glanced at them before continuing his fire puffs. Barry smiled and finally reached a hand over her back and gave her a small hug.

“I’m sorry for you loss.”

She nodded, “like I said, not a happy story. After that I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I had no direction, I was completely lost. I didn’t want to stay there, there were too many memories of him there, so I left. I wondered around until I somehow made it here.

“I remember hearing about being a Keeper and decided ‘why not, I don’t have anything else going on in my life’ and volunteered. I met Cisco and Lisa, yes they were already bonded, and a few days later I happen to meet Mick. He instantly took a liking to me and just kept following me around.” She laughed, “I liked the companionship and in the blink of an eye, he became my treasure.” She smiled as Mick hummed, having heard her comment.

“I’m glad you found your way here then Caitlin.”

“Me too. What about you? How did you end up here?”

Barry laughed, “not a happy story either.”

Caitlin giggled, “guess there is a theme here.”

“Yeah… well my dad was a doctor. We used to travel around all the time, but then one day when I was ten we were robbed. They killed both my parents and I was left alone. My father’s friend Joe took me in and raised me as his own. I would have stayed there, but I felt like I needed to do something more with my life. So I came here, to see if I could help, like my father used to.”

“I’m sorry for your loss too.”

“It’s ok, it was a long time ago.” Barry grabbed his pendant that he wore every day, “this was my mother’s. She gave it to me on the day we were attacked. It’s the only thing I have of hers, so it’s very precious to me.”

Caitlin took a closer as Barry held it up. It was a simple silver pendant, with a tree of life design in the center.

“My father bought it for her on their wedding day. It’s not the most expensive thing, but she loved it.”

“It’s beautiful Barry.”

“Thanks.”

They continued to watch Mick play with fire until he was finally done. Caitlin helped Barry find his way to his room and they said their goodbyes. She told Barry Cisco would be by in the morning to take him where he needed to go.

Barry walked into the small room and started placing all his belongings in the room. He hung his clothes in the dresser and found a large basket in there for his dirty laundry. Barry undressed to his underwear and threw his clothes in the basket. He took off his pendant, laying it down on the desk, and proceeded to go to his new bed and fall right to sleep. He figured the next morning was going to be hectic, he needed all the sleep he could get.

***

He woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and excited for the new day. He quickly got dressed, wanting to be ready before Cisco got there. He finished tying his boots and adjusted his shirt. His hand reached for the pendant on the table and that is when Barry’s stomach dropped.

The pendant was gone.


	2. That's Mine!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry's second day didn't get off to a good start... and it will end with him being quite confused.

 

 

Barry tore his room apart searching for the necklace, but there was no use, someone had taken it. When Cisco arrived, his room was now a mess and Barry was holding back the tears. He fixed himself up as much as possible, put on a forced smile, and started on their way to the dining hall.

“I’m sorry man. I wish there was a way to find out who took it, but when it comes to dragons… well…” Cisco winced.

“It’s ok,” Barry’s hand kept coming up where the necklace should have been. He had worn it every day for sixteen years, and now that it was gone Barry felt naked. “I will be ok, I just have to get focused on the reason I’m here and let it go.” Barry said determined.

Cisco smiled at him, “yup! And trust me, you will be distracted.”

They arrived at the dining hall and grabbed their food, making their way to the table where Mick and Caitlin were already seated. They started eating their food as Cisco explained what sort of duties they were going to have him do each day. It varied from just feeding to fixing some of the torn down walls around the temple.

“Some of our dragons will morph to their actual size around the temple since they aren’t that big, but they still end up causing damage,” Cisco rolled his eyes. His shirt started moving like the day before and he smiled as Lisa finally woke up popped her head out. She crawled down his arm and onto the table, stretching and yawning, before finally nodding at everyone. Cisco passed her a strawberry that she happily took and started nibbling on.

“So, how big is Lisa, when she is her actual size?”

“Not sure how to describe it, I guess a horse would be the best way,” Cisco looked at Caitlin for confirmation.

“Yeah, just think of her head size about the same, but then a really long body,” she agreed.

Lisa nodded as she chewed her strawberry.

“Cool, I’m dying to see a really big one though.”

Caitlin smiled at him, “well in that case, how about you join me after breakfast? Mick…” She turned to him, “feel like showing Barry here your true self?”

“Sure,” he smirked.

“So Mick is large?” Barry said excited.

Cisco laughed, “Mick is the reason for the plains located behind the mountain.”

Barry grinned, he couldn’t wait to see him then. Maybe his morning wasn’t that bad after all.

 

They finished breakfast and Barry followed Caitlin and Mick as they took a small trail that lead to the back side of the mountain. They came to a crossing and Mick headed one way while Caitlin took another. Barry stopped and looked at them confused, unsure who to follow. Caitlin laughed as she beckoned him to follow her.

“The other trail leads down to the plains. We are going to go up a bit higher. There is a cliff where we will be able to see him more clearly.”

They strolled up and finally reached the cliff that had a view for miles out. Barry could see way down the mountain and watched as Mick was just strolling at his own pace as he made his way out further to the plain.

“So like how big is he?”

“You will see,” Caitlin giggled.

Barry waited and watched intently as Mick finally seemed to be satisfied at how far away he was. He was nothing but a small dot to Barry at this point. He narrowed his eyes, watching to see what he would do. He saw as Mick’s entire body started glowing brightly and the shape started shifting. It started getting larger and larger, the light becoming too bright for Barry to keep looking. He shut his eyes and even had to put his arm around them to keep the light out. When he finally felt like it had stopped, Barry slowly dropped his arm and opened his eyes to look out.

His knees went weak.

Mick stood on all fours and was larger than any mountain Barry had ever seen. He slowly lifted and sat back on his hind legs, giving the ground a shake. His large horns started stirring the clouds above him as he hummed, causing the entire ground to start vibrating.

Now this was a dragon! This was what Barry wanted to see from the beginning. Barry started smiling bigger than he ever had. He threw his hands up in the air, getting on his tip toes.

“MICK! YOU ARE AMAZING!!” He yelled as loud as he could.

Mick roared a laugh, causing the entire ground around them to quake. Caitlin laughed as she quickly grabbed onto Barry to keep her balance.

“I think you just made his day.”

Barry kept gawking at him. Mick was an incredible site to see. Once again, Barry couldn’t be happier for the choice of having come here.

Mick slowly stretched his legs and moved around a bit. Each movement causing the ground to stir and even the air around them to shift. After a few minutes, he stretched one last time and started glowing once more, his form shifting again, but this time getting smaller. He returned to his tiny form and started walking towards them.

Barry couldn’t stop laughing and just looked at Caitlin who returned the smile.

“Wow… just… wow…”

“Come on, we will meet back up with him at the crossing.”

They slowly started making their way back down, knowing it would take Mick a bit longer.

“I can’t believe he is that big!”

“Yup! There is no other dragon that is bigger than Mick,” she said proudly.

“That is crazy! Not even in another temple?”

“Nope. Our temple is famous for having the largest dragon, the only ice dragon, and Harrison Wells, who knows more about dragons than anyone, thus why Cisco is studying under him.”

“Wow! So do dragons normally only stick to one temple?”

“It’s about half and half. A few like switching temples around, while others stay where it’s more comfortable for them. We have a temple near the western mountains that are filled with volcanoes, so a lot of fire types like heading that way. There is another one in the north that is surrounded by lakes, so naturally the water dragons love that one.”

“Do you and Mick moved around?”

“No,” she laughed, “You see, Mick used to travel around, mainly staying in the wild with two others, Lisa and her brother, Len.”

“Lisa has a brother!?” She nodded, “That is incredible, what is he like?”

Caitlin winced, “umm… difficult.”

“Difficult?”

“He can be sweet, specially to Lisa, but he doesn’t like being in the temple too much, so he is usually in a bad mood.”

“Why does he stay then?”

“Lisa. The three of them were passing through about three years ago and they decided to stop and rest here. Lisa met Cisco and bonded with him. Neither Len nor Mick wanted to just leave her, so they stayed as well. Since Cisco is studying under Wells, he won’t be leaving this temple anytime soon, so...”

“Oh… and if they were used to moving around, I can see why Len would be frustrated.”

“After Mick and I bonded, Len was kind of left on his own. You will see him around, but he usually stays deep in the garden area, away from most people.”

Barry couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for him. To go from traveling with a group he trusted to being all alone must be hard.

Once Mick finally joined them, they made their way back to the temple. Cisco was waiting for them and took Barry to his task for the day. He guided him over to the garden area and started walking further back, where it eventually turned more into a forest. He noticed there were several people walking around with planks of wood in their hands, heading in the same direction they were going.

“So… what am I doing?”

“Well my friend, we are building small platforms in the trees.”

“Huh?” Barry turned to him confused.

“Most dragons like having high nests, and trees are perfect for that. But since we have so many, most of the ‘good spots’ are taken. The other trees usually don’t have enough room for them to make a comfortable nest. So we help out by making platforms on those trees so they can nest there.”

“Nice!”

They finally got to the main area where the planks of wood were being deposited. There were people all around, some were measuring the trees trunk for size, others were starting to put the platforms together already. Cisco lead him up to a young man with dark black hair. He turned to them and smiled brightly.

“Cisco!”

“Hello Ray, I bring you a new pair of hands!”

Ray turned to Barry, extending his hand, “Ray Palmer, pleasure to meet you.”

Barry shook his hand and smiled, “Barry Allen, the feeling is mutual.”

“Well Barry, welcome to my workshop… sort of,” he laughed. “So are you ready to get those hands dirty?”

“Ready and willing sir,” Barry laughed.

Cisco headed back to the temple while Ray started explaining the job in more detail. Since Barry wasn’t much of a carpenter, he knew already he could barely use a hammer, he decided to help out with bringing in more wood. The forest was a bit too thick for the carts to come in all the way, so they would bring the wood and deposit it at the edge of the forest, and then they had to carry it the rest of the way. Barry began his journey back and forth with the pieces of wood. He started off with a lot of energy, but by the seventh trip, he was already feeling the pain on his back, and the heat from the sunny day was not helping.

He was marching back with his logs when he decided he wanted to cool off for one second. He had kept seeing a small stream right past the trail, so he decided to stop there for his mini break. He settled his pieces of wood on the ground, and walked over to the stream to splashed some water on his face. The water was nice and cold and it felt incredible with the heat. He took a deep breath and paused for a moment, before standing again, ready to get back to work.  Movement caught his eye and he quickly looked up. Across the stream, there was a pair of eyes watching him.

A white dragon.

He was laying on a large rock under the shade of a tree. He was sleek and long and was roughly the size of a medium dog. The small rays of sun that came in through the trees kept hitting his skin and reflected blue. He had two black horns on the crown of his head that matched his black claws, and his tail that he kept whipping around was extremely long. One of his claws was playing around with something, but Barry couldn’t even focus on it. His eyes were transfixed on the dragon’s face. He had a long snout, high cheekbones, and the most gorgeous blue eyes he had ever seen. Barry couldn’t tear his eyes away, he looked strong, elegant, and… beautiful. He kept staring as the dragon smirked at him. Barry shook his head, his eyes finally looking at his claw to see what the hell he kept playing with. Barry’s eyes widened.

_His necklace!_

“Hey! That’s mine!”

The dragon kept moving the chain around, his smirk growing bigger now that Barry finally realized what he had. Barry stomped cross the stream and walked up to the large rock.

“Give that back!”

“No. It’s mine,” he drawled. His voice was deep, much deeper than something that size should be, and it made Barry’s whole-body shiver.

He swallowed, “how is it yours?”

“It belongs to my mate, so it’s mine now,” he said with a ‘matter of fact’ tone.

“It does not belong to your mate, it’s mine!” What kind of dragon gives their mate something they have stolen!?

The dragon laughed, “you’re cute.”

Barry narrowed his eyes at him, “give it back, it has no value, why would you want it?”

“If it has no value, why do you want it so badly?”

“Because it belonged to my mother, it means a lot to me.”

The dragon looked and the necklace, still twirling it around it’s claws, and smiled, “even more reason for me to have it then.”

Barry shook his head, that made no sense at all!

He started hearing his name being called from the trail, wondering where he had gone off to. Barry turned back to the dragon and glared at him.

“This isn’t over dragon, I want my necklace back!”

“Good luck,” he challenged.

Barry crossed the stream again and grabbed his wood, walking back to the trail to apologize for having wondered off.

Barry’s emotions kept going back and forth from feeling anger that the dragon wouldn’t give him back his necklace, to awe at the fact that the dragon left such an impression on him. He had seen a lot of dragons around the temple at this point, but he saw them mostly as cute, or tough looking like Mick. But he had yet to see one that literary took Barry’s breath away. He wasn’t sure how he should feel about that.

Barry didn’t even catch his name, but he was pretty sure Cisco would know who he is. Hell, he had not seen any other white dragon around, so that should be easy for him to guess. He needed to find Cisco after this so he could help him get his necklace back, he should know how.

Unfortunately, he ended up spending the entire day out in the woods working on the project. They didn’t even get a lunch break. Some of the other Keepers brought food for them, but that was about it. Barry kept glaring at the small stream as he kept passing it. He even went over there once again to see if the dragon was still there, but he was now gone.

The sun was already setting when they finally made their way back to the temple. Barry’s entire body hurt. He had done other labor jobs, but never for this long. His hands felt rough and were red from irritation, his back made him feel like he was eighty and his legs were barely keeping him up. He made it to the dining hall and sat down with Caitlin and Cisco, just staring at his food. He didn’t even feel hungry at this point, he just wanted to sleep.

“Rough day?” Caitlin asked.

“Not really rough, but exhausting.”

“Well just eat something at least and then go take a hot bath, that will help. Then you can go to bed clean and full,” she smiled.

Bed… that sounded wonderful. Barry ate what he could and headed towards the baths. The communal baths were quite large. They even had a few large hot springs in the back for them. Barry entered the men’s side, and after washing himself thoroughly, he decided he wanted to dip into one of the hot springs for a bit. The hot water felt incredible, and Barry could almost feel himself falling asleep there. His mind started wondering off about everything that had happened. It was then he realized he had forgotten to ask Cisco about the white dragon.  

_Damn it!_

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed in there, but he was definitely going to fall asleep if he stayed another second. He got out and dried himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist. He grabbed his pile of clothes and just shoved his boots on, not even tying them, and dragged himself to his room. He opened the door, wanting nothing more than to just flop on his bed, but was left stunned. The mess he had made searching for the necklace this morning had been all cleaned up. Barry looked around and then finally focused on the dragon laying on his bed, like he was king of the castle… or room rather.

“Do you normally take this long to get to your bed? I don’t like being kept waiting.”

Barry tried to register what was going on, but he was too tired to think coherently. He stepped back out and looked down the hallway to make sure he had the right room… he did.

“Why are you here?”

“This is my new nest.”

“But it’s my room?”

“Your point?”

Barry narrowed his eyes, this dragon was so frustrating. So what now, did he have to move out because this dragon wanted his room?

The dragon cocked his head to the side, studying Barry, “you are exhausted Barry, come to bed.” He jumped off and walked around him. He pushed him into the room and made him sit on the edge of the bed. He raised up and grabbed the clothes Barry was still holding and threw them to the side, before quickly pulling off Barry’s boots. He made Barry lay down and get under the covers.

Barry was too tired to fight or question anything, although in the back of his mind he did realize he was being put to bed by a dragon. He closed his eyes and relaxed, getting comfortable. He heard the dragon moving around his room, even the door being shut and locked, before he sensed the bed dip as the dragon came to lay beside him. Barry felt his claw slowly start brushing through his hair.

He sighed and instantly pushed himself closer to him. Barry inhaled his scent and couldn’t help the smile that came to his face. It reminded him of when he traveled with his parents to the northern mountains. Those were Barry’s favorite trips. He loved waking up early and walking out into the pine forest to take in the scent of the trees mixed with the fresh snow, it was addicting. It had been years since he had thought of those times, but this dragon scent was just like that forest.

He opened his eyes and looked up, watching the dragon gaze down at him with a smile. He noticed that his necklace was now around the dragon’s neck.

“That’s my necklace dragon,” he mumbled.

“My name is Len.”

Barry closed his eyes and smiled, “mine… Len.”

He chuckled, “all yours Barry.”

His body finally started to feel heavy and he slowly started to drift to sleep. Len shifted a little and laid his head down, snuggling close to him. The last thing Barry registered before finally falling asleep was Len whispering, “I finally found you, my mate.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Len is finally here! And Barry is going to have an interesting next morning in the next chapter when everything starts to register! 
> 
> I will try my best to update soon! Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments I have gotten so far! I'm really happy you guys liked the first chapter so much. I hope you enjoyed the second just as much!


	3. So How Does This Work?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stressed out Barry ends up enjoying little moments with the dragon causing his stresses.

 

 

Barry woke up the next morning feeling nice and warm in his bed. He felt incredible, he had never slept so good in his life. As he finally started to shift around, he became more aware there was a warm body pressed against his front. Barry opened his eyes and glanced down as he slowly lifted the covers and was met with a sleeping white dragon.

Barry yelped as he jumped out of bed, tripped, and fell on the ground. The towel was lost in the process, leaving him naked. He scrambled around and found the shirt from the day before that was lying on the floor. He covered himself up as he stood back up, trying to catch his breath. He finally looked back at the bed and found the dragon was now awake and glaring at Barry.

“What are you doing here?”

“We already went through this,” he rolled his eyes.

Barry paused and started thinking back. He remembered coming to his room after his bath… then the dragon was here, Len… he said this was his nest…

_“I finally found you, my mate.”_

Barry froze, staring at Len as he continued to watch him amused. He couldn’t possibly want to… bond, could he? What the hell!? They said this was rare! He has been here for only two days, this is impossible!

Len yawned, “Barry, I don’t want to wake up yet, so come back to bed and warm your mate up, I’m cold,” he smiled devilishly.

“I’m not your mate,” Barry blurted.

Len glared at him once more, “yes, you are.”

“You can’t just say I’m your mate and it’s done… can you?” He looked at him skeptically. Technically Barry had no idea how any of this worked. They really should have like a class right when you get here to let you know these things!

Len’s smile returned, “Yes, I can. I claimed you as mine, we have bonded, so now you are officially my mate.”

“No, no, no, no, no…” Barry started as he walked backwards until reaching his dresser. He quickly grabbed a pair of pants and started putting them on, all the while still shaking his head. “… no, no. Look, you don’t want me as your mate.”

“That so?” He said amused.

“Yes, I’m… really weak, even for a human. It’s kind of pathetic.”

“I have enough strength for the both of us, no need to worry.”

“Well… I’m really dumb, why would you want a mate who is an idiot?”

The dragon laughed, “you are not dumb, maybe naïve, but not dumb.”

Barry huffed, “I’m not that great looking, pretty sure you could find someone better.”

“Never, you are the most gorgeous man I have ever seen Barry.”

Barry couldn’t stop the blush that came up. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Len smiled sweetly at him and started extending an arm out, “come Barry, you have my word that you have nothing to fear from me, I will take care of you my mate.”

Barry swallowed. He didn’t know what to do, he was in way over his head. He didn’t feel like he should fear Len, and if they were already mates like he said…

“Yo Barry? You awake?” Cisco knocked on the door. 

Len growled from the bed, annoyed at the disturbance. Barry sighed, relieved, and quickly opened the door to plea for help. Cisco’s smile immediately dropped when he saw Len on the bed.

“What is he doing in your room?”

“Help me! He was here last night and said this was his nest, and then we slept together, and now he is saying we bonded and I’m his mate!”

“What the hell Barry!?”

“How is this my fault, you really need to warn people how things work around here!”

“Well I didn’t think you would have sex with a dragon on your second day!”

Barry stepped back, “what? I didn’t have sex with him.”

“You said you two slept together?”

“Yeah, actually slept… not sex!”

Cisco sighed in relief, “Ohhh! Ok, no worries Barry, you aren’t mated.”

“What! But he said…” Barry turned and saw the mischievous smile Len now had.

Cisco shook his head, “yeah, that figures, Len has a bit of a reputation for lying. Trust me, I have dealt with it. He is Lisa’s brother in case you didn’t know.”

“What!?” Now that Cisco mentioned it, he did remember Caitlin saying Lisa had a brother named Len…

“I didn’t lie, it’s the truth. He _will_ be my mate and no one in this temple is stupid enough to challenge me for him,” Len gritted.

“Len, you know the rules, you aren’t mates until you consummate it, until then, Barry is free.” Barry stood there stunned, this was getting way more complicated than he liked. Len started growling at Cisco, but he didn’t seem to fear him, “I’m not letting you take advantage just because he doesn’t know how this works. Barry, you get dressed, we are going to see Wells to let him know Len has an Intended, and we are definitely going to teach you a few things.”

Cisco turned and walked out of the room, deciding to wait outside. Barry closed the door and turned to glare at Len.

“You lied to me.”

“How?”

“You said we had already bonded and we were mates.”

“That wasn’t a lie, you are my mate, trust me.”

“I’m not your mate until we apparently have sex.”

“I was working on that until Ramon interrupted us,” he smirked at him.

“What!? I… you… ARGH!” He shook his head and turned to his dresser once more, grabbing his shirt and quickly putting it on. He grabbed his boots and sat on the desk chair to start putting them on. “I can’t believe you!”

“Nothing is stopping this Barry, you might as well accept it, you are mine.”

“We will see about that!”

 

Barry seethed as they finally walked into Wells’s office. To Barry’s surprise, Wells was not shocked by the news. He had studied dragons for so long, he could usually see these things happening before they did, and he had gotten a strong ‘hunch’ that Len was going to take a liking to Barry.

 _Couldn’t have warned me?_ Barry thought bitterly.

They took Barry to the library where both Wells and Cisco decided to find a few books for him to study. Barry despised reading, so he was already dreading this. He sat at a large table with his books and started to go through them. Len offered to teach Barry everything he needed to know, but Barry quickly refused, he was not going to let him take advantage of him like he tried this morning. Instead, Len just laid himself out on the table and watched Barry start his reading while occasionally playing with the pendant that was still hanging around his neck.

From what Barry understood, he was what they called an ‘Intended’, meaning he wasn’t a mate yet, but soon to be. At this point, he could accept Len, bond, and they would become mates. He read that it was more beneficial if the Intended agreed to the bond, since the stronger connection the pair had before mating, the stronger the bond. If a dragon decided to take his Intended by force, which there had been cases of, the bond would be extremely weak. For this reason, the dragons usually tried to coax or woo the Intended to become their mate, not force them.

Another issue a dragon could face was if he had a rival. If two dragons wanted the same Intended, they would have to battle. Len quickly dismissed this since according to him, only Mick matched his strength in the Temple, and he already had his mate, so no one would be challenging him for Barry.

The last possibility would be if the dragon changes his mind, Len laughed at the thought.

“Never,” he grinned. Barry threw his head up exasperated.

While Barry continued his reading, different Keepers kept coming in to introduce themselves to him. Everyone apparently wanted to meet Len’s Intended. They were all extremely nice, and even some brought small gifts for either him or Len to congratulate them. Barry felt awkward and on display. It was almost as if he was a bride to be. He quickly noticed no one would get too close to him too. He realized they feared angering Len, since no one is allowed to touch a dragon’s mate.

“So am I never going to be touched by anyone, ever?” He turned to Len after one of the Keepers had left.

Len thought for a moment, “I trust Mick… and his mate, I like her. My sister of course…” Len kept staring off into the distance.

“Cisco?”

Len snarled a bit before finally giving in, “I guess yes. But no one else. I don’t want you dirtied with the scent of others.”

By dinner time, Barry could barely see straight. His head was pounding and all he wanted was to go to his room and sleep. He still wasn’t sure about this whole thing. It was a very serious commitment and it had Barry a bit worried… and scared, and worst of all, he had no real choice. The only positive thing is that although Len liked teasing, he didn’t seem to want to force Barry. That made him feel a bit better about the situation.

Cisco still managed to drag him to the dining hall, where he was met with even more Keepers who wanted to congratulate him, and he got to see Caitlin for the first time. She had been down near the town area all day since a few Keepers had caught the flu. She looked as exhausted as Barry. She did perk up at the news however, telling Barry they were now all like a family. Barry couldn’t help but smile at the comment.

After dinner he started making his way back to his room, wanting nothing more than to be just left alone, but before he could even make it there, Len stopped him.

“Come with me,” he ordered.

“Len, I want to sleep.”

“No! I have waited all day long for this bullshit to be done, now you have to spend time with me. Besides, you will like this.”

His tail wrapped itself around Barry’s wrist and he started pulling him. They walked outside and slowly made their way to one of the small trails that lead to the back of the mountain. The sun had already set and it was getting dark, making it much harder to see where they were going, but Len kept pulling. Barry knew they took the trail Caitlin has used to get to the cliff, but at some point, Len changed it, going up higher on the mountain. When they finally arrived, there were at a small ledge that overlooked the entire area, including the Temple below them.

They took a seat and Barry looked down. The Temple and the small town had their lanterns lit now. He gazed up a bit more and he could see beyond the Temple wall. It was mostly dark woods with the occasional light here and there from small homes scattered about. Barry finally looked all the way up and gazed at the clear night sky filled with stars.

He finally felt like his mind was quieting down from the hectic day. He took a deep breath, enjoying the peace and quiet, and relaxed for the first time today. He turned and saw Len had sat a foot away from him, looking up at the sky as well.

“I guess you were right,” he turned back to gaze at the view, “I do like this. Thanks Len.”

“Figured you could use some peace and quiet after today.”

“Yeah. This view is amazing.”

“It’s my third favorite spot. I love coming up here and getting away from all the annoyances from the Temple.”

Barry looked at him again and smiled, “They aren’t so bad and you know it.” Len rolled his eyes at him, making him laugh. Barry looked at the tiny lanterns from the Temple. “I love how the lanterns look from up there.”

“Just wait until the festival. It should be in a few days I think.”

“Festival?”

“Yeah, the Temple does a lantern festival every year. Just an excuse for all of them to get drunk and dance really.”

“That sounds fun thought, I can’t wait.” He turned to Len, “You know Len, you aren’t so bad when you aren’t trying to have sex with me.”

He chuckled before turning his snout up, “I won’t apologize.”

“Of course you won’t.”

“I mean it,” he turned towards him with a serious look, “I want you Barry. I want you as my partner, to be the person who is always beside me, to be my _mate_ for life. I have no doubt about this and I will not stop until we are bonded.”

Barry blushed and looked away. He tucked his knees in, hugging his legs. “You… you can’t… just say stuff… like that,” he sputtered.

“Why not?” Len smiled, “if it’s how I feel.”

Barry felt his cheeks turn even redder. He cleared his throat and just kept looking out.

Len sighed, “you ready to go back?”

Barry thought about it for a moment. He found himself not really wanting to go just yet, he really liked it up here. “Maybe in a minute?”

“Whatever you want,” Len grinned.

Barry kept his gaze out when he felt Len get closer, pressing himself to Barry’s side. Barry couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m surprised it took this long.”

He hummed and snuggled closer to Barry as they both watched the night sky. By the time they finally made it back to the Temple, it was late and everyone had already gone to bed. They quietly made their way through the dark hallways and into Barry’s room. Barry settled himself in bed before Len jumped in and cuddled up close. He grabbed one of Barry’s arms and adjusted it until Barry was spooning him. Barry laughed, not even bothering to argue.

“Good night Len.”

“Good night my mate.”

 

Barry woke up the next morning determined to actually do some chores around the Temple. He had spent the entire day before studying and meeting Keepers, so now he felt guilty. This ended up being a lot harder to do since Len had his own plan of keeping Barry in bed with him.

Barry wasn’t sure how he managed, but he was able to get out of the grip that Len had on him and escaped his bedroom. He finally found Cisco and he was assigned to help stain some of the older wood windows. It was a job that didn’t require him to be around others, so no one would be in danger of getting frozen by Len, who was now tailing Barry. Barry set himself up and started staining the first window from the outside.

“Are you done?” Len whined as he laid on the grass.

“I literary just started Len.”

“Argh, this is stupid.”

“Well I’m here to work. I’m not going to be a free-loader.”

“You are my mate, so technically speaking, you are a dragon now, and dragons don’t work for the Temple.”

“Well, I’m not doing that. I will work for my stay here.”

Len continued to huff and whine behind him, until Barry could take it no more, “Yeah, no! I’m not doing this, you leave!”

“What!?”

“Yes, I’m not going to have you sitting here whining the entire time. Go find something to do and I will come find you when I’m done.”

Len glared at him for a moment, about to argue, when he stopped. He smiled at Barry and with a ‘fine’ he walked away. Barry was left a bit stunned that he so willingly left, but he just shrugged it off, at least this way he got to finish his task uninterrupted.

He worked peacefully for about thirty minutes until he heard Wells screaming his name. Barry froze, not sure what he could have done to make the man so angry, and watched him stomped across the grass towards him. It wasn’t until he was close that he finally saw Len trotting behind him with a smirk plastered on his face.

“What are you doing!?” Wells yelled at him.

“I’m just staining the windows…?”

“Well stop it! Your new job is to keep him entertained and away from me!” He pointed angrily at Len who was now sitting on the grass between them.

“But…”

“No buts! He froze three of my book shelves!”

“I cannot help your office is so dusty that it made me sneeze,” Len drawled. The look he gave Barry let him know that was complete bullshit.

“I don’t care! Barry, KEEP HIM BUSY!”

Before Barry could even respond, Wells stormed off, grumbling about how his books were now going to be soaking wet when they thaw.

“Well Barry, you heard him, you must keep me busy. Shall we go to our nest so you can get started on that?” He winked.

“NO!” Barry yelled as he put down the brush.

“Worth a try, come on.”

Barry crossed his arms, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes you are, plus you will like it, just come on.” His tail reached up and grabbed his wrist again, pulling him towards the garden area. He quickly stopped and grabbed a bag he had stashed behind a tree with his mouth and they started making their way back, towards the woods. Barry could hear some of the workers still putting up the platforms near by as they kept walking further and further into the forest. He was about to ask how much longer when he started to hear water. They came to a small clearing and there was a large waterfall, with a pool underneath, that drained into a small creek that went down the mountain. The water was incredibly clear and Barry could see all the way to the bottom.

“Welcome to my second favorite spot. Want to take a swim?” He said after putting the small bag down.

Barry grinned, “yeah!” He undressed down to his underwear before making his way to the edge of the water.

“Aren’t you going to take those off too?”

“No!” Barry turned and looked at him appalled.

“No need to be shy, you know that towel didn’t stay on the entire time during that first night.”

Barry blushed as he narrowed his eyes at him, “still a no.”

“You’re no fun,” he pouted.

Barry turned and started getting into the water, followed by Len. The water was perfect. It wasn’t too cold, but refreshing enough in the hot day. Barry started floating on his back, loving the feel of the water under him and the sun above.

“Ok, so I do like this one too.” _Plus, he had to admit, this was better than staining windows._

“You need to trust me more Barry,” he swam next to him.

“Well you did lie to me during that first morning…”

“That wasn’t a lie, you are my mate.”

Barry laughed and decided to give up on that argument. “So… if this is your second favorite, what’s your first?”

“My new nest,” he said proudly.

Barry’s feet flung up and his head went underwater. He came back up, coughing a bit, “what?”

“Yeah, why is that surprising?”

“Compared to the last two places… I was expecting bigger, not my room!”

Len smiled, “It’s covered with your scent, of course that is going to be my favorite.”

 _I should have known_.

 

They spent the morning and early afternoon together. The bag Len had brought had their lunch, to keep them from having to return to the Temple. It wasn’t until late afternoon until they dry themselves up and made their way back. Barry couldn’t help but admit he did enjoy being with Len, he wasn’t too sure about the whole bonding thing just yet though, it just seemed like a big step in a very short time. But the thought that it would be with Len was slowly making it less scary to Barry.

They were about to enter the Temple when Caitlin finally found them. “There you are!”

“Hey… sorry, is something wrong?”

“Oh no. Wells wanted me to find you. We have visitor and he wanted to introduce you to him.”

“A visitor?”

“Yup, another dragon. He comes from our furthest Eastern temple. We always laugh and say it’s more like a fort than a temple though. It’s borders the wastelands, where there are a lot of thieves and dark magicians, and the temple took it upon themselves to make sure to keep them out of our lands.”

“Wow, that’s really impressive.”

“Yup, the dragon that came is named Oliver. He is really powerful, but considered a bit weird since most dragons love being in their dragon form, even if morphed, but not Oliver. So you are about to meet a dragon in his human form.”

Barry couldn’t be happier. He had been curious what a dragon would look like when they were human. Was it exactly the same, or some weird half version? Barry turned to see if Len was going to join them, but he had disappeared. Barry was about to call out for him, but Caitlin grabbed his arm, saying he would catch up.

They made their way to Wells’s office and walked in. Barry saw Wells talking to a tall, broad man who had his back to him. As he and Caitlin walked closer, Wells finally cut their conversion off.

“Oliver, I wanted you to meet Barry, he is one of our new Keepers here who made quite a name for himself yesterday.”

The dragon turned and Barry realized he looked like any other human, except his eyes were slit like a dragon’s. Barry couldn’t stop himself from blushing however, he was incredibly handsome, specially when he smiled at him.

“Really now? Well, how do you do, I’m Oliver.”

“Hi…” was all Barry managed to say.

Oliver took a step closer, studying Barry, “you are cute...” He looked at Barry up and down, his smile getting bigger, “…very cute.”

He heard Caitlin squeak and Wells let out a frustrated sigh, “really Barry? Another one?”

Before Barry could even respond, he felt someone grab his shirt and pull him back hard. Barry crashed into someone’s chest and felt their arms wrap around him. He looked up and his breath was taken away. Oliver was handsome, but this guy… holy crap, there were just no words. His face was like a God and all Barry could think was he never wanted him to let go.

“Snart!” Oliver growled.

_Snart? Who the hell…_

“Queen!” The man gritted.

Fuck… Barry knew that voice… he knew that voice very well.

“LEN!!?”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for Len not having a rival... 
> 
> Guys, I can't thank you enough for all the wonderful comments and kudos you have given me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I will do my best to post chapter 4 soon!


	4. Something Wicked This Way Comes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver gives the group some very bad news...

 

Barry continued gaping at Len as he glared towards Oliver.

“What the hell do you think you are doing Snart?” Oliver growled.

“Keeping your dirty claws off my mate!” Len returned.

“Your mate?”

“Technically they are not bonded yet Oliver,” Wells clarified. The look Len sent his way made the seasoned man instantly regret his words.

Oliver smiled, “so I have a chance still. Wouldn’t that be funny… me stealing from a thief.”

The room suddenly started getting a lot colder as Len let out a low growl.

Wells cleared his throat and stepped between them, turning to Oliver. “Do not lose focus, you came here for a reason. You can deal with your own personal business afterwards.” Oliver stood there for a moment before reluctantly nodding. Wells turned to Caitlin, “Cisco?”

“He is coming, he was just finishing up some stuff.”

“Good, how about we move this meeting to the library, I want you guys present for this so we will need more room,” He looked at Oliver and Len who were still glaring at one another, “and it might be best to put more space between these two.”

“Is something wrong?” Caitlin asked.

Wells gave her a worried look before answering, “lets just go to the library. We will let Oliver explain.” Wells ushered Oliver out as Caitlin followed behind.

Len finally sighed and looked down at Barry.

With the other’s gone, Barry could finally take Len’s form in a lot slower. He was wearing a silk blue shirt and black pants with matching boots. He had a long white coat that seemed too hot for this weather, but Barry could feel a cool aura coming off Len’s body, keeping him from being too warm. He moved his gaze up a bit more and saw his mother’s necklace neatly sitting around his neck, making Barry smile. He finally looked up at that man’s face again and he couldn’t breathe. Now that he could see his face fully, he did recognize him more. Those beautiful blue eyes that Barry liked so much when he was a dragon didn’t change at all, just that now they were on a beautiful man. His high cheek bones matched his strong jaw perfectly, and his lips… Barry wanted nothing more than to taste them all of the sudden.

“You don’t leave my side while he is here,” He said sternly.

“Yeah, sure… what?...” Barry wasn’t even listening. Len’s deep voice now mixed with this form was just too much, Barry’s mind was on overdrive.

Len slowly smirked, his hand coming up to caress Barry’s cheek, “My dear mate, if I had known this was the reaction I would get from you, I would have turned human a lot sooner.” Barry blushed, unable to do anything but swallow. Len leaned in, lips brushing slightly against his other cheek. “Maybe now you finally understand how you make me feel Barry.”

There was no way in hell that was true. There was no way Barry could have this effect on him, Len was gorgeous, how could Barry match that? Len’s lips slowly started moving across his cheek, leaving small kisses along the way. He pulled away just slightly, their noses rubbing together. Len smiled and started leaning in again, their lips ghosting around one another. Barry felt like he was about to explode, all he wanted was to feel his lips, taste them, to have Len just completely take…

“Hey, sorry I’m late… wait, where is everyone?” Cisco walked in, completely ignoring the scene. Lisa however, grinned from his shoulder.

Len growled and pulled back, “in the library,” he gritted.

“Oh, thanks!”

Cisco walked out, and Len took a breath to calm himself. He placed both his hands this time on Barry’s cheeks and started leaning in again. Barry closed his eyes, eagerly waiting for the kiss.

“Umm… you guys coming?” Cisco popped his head back in.

Len growled once more as he turned and blasted Cisco’s face with ice. It wasn’t enough to hurt him, just cover him in a thin layer which broke as he started shaking it off.

“What the hell was that for!?”

“Lenny! You mess up his hair when you do that!” Lisa started taking some of the ice.

“Be glad I’m not killing him!” Len grabbed Barry by the hand and dragged him out of the office. “We are picking this back up after this stupid ass meeting.”

 

Len and Barry walked into the library where the others were already sitting. Cisco followed behind him, pouting, as he continued to take small ice pieces from his hair.

Oliver was at the head of the table with Wells to his right. Caitlin was sitting on the other side. Mick had joined them at some point and was now laying on the floor behind Caitlin. Cisco walked up and sat next to Caitlin while Len took the other end of the table, guiding Barry to sit next to him.

Barry looked over and saw Oliver give him a small smile. Barry nodded at him shyly, not really wanting to bring a lot of attention, unfortunately, it was noticed. Len dragged Barry’s chair close to his and put his arm around the back of the seat, glaring at Oliver from across the table.

Barry wasn’t sure what the hell he was supposed to do? He didn’t ask for two dragons to start liking him! How was he going to keep them from fighting? The only thing that Barry could remember from his reading was that the dragons would fight over him until he was bonded with one of them, so in the end, Barry would have to choose. Great, not what he wanted. He was trying to convince Len that he didn’t want to bond with him, now he had to deal with another dragon wanting him, and the two of them fighting… Why was this his life!?

Oliver seemed nice, but that is all he could tell, he didn’t know him.

Len… Len was… complicated. He was an asshole, and he did lie to him that first morning, and he was shameless when it came to wanting to sleep with him. But… he was also really sweet sometimes, and he seemed like he genuinely cared. But Barry was still afraid about the entire commitment thing, bonding was nothing to take likely, and Barry was terrified. Which brought him to his biggest problem at this moment.

Len in human form was irresistible. How the hell was Barry going to keep from saying yes to him now? They almost kissed in Wells’s office and he said they were picking that back up later. Great, Barry might end up bonded tonight whether he liked it or not.

“Ok, now that everyone is here,” Wells started, “Oliver has some news for us from the border lands.”

Oliver broke his glaring contest with Len and addressed everyone else in the room. “Ok, I’m going to start from the beginning since most of you know nothing about the wastelands.”

_Good, I sure as hell don’t._

“The wastelands are located across our border. It’s a barren waste land where nothing but thieves and dark magicians live. My temple has taken up the duty to keep these people out of our lands to keep us safe.”

“How noble of you,” Len drawled sarcastically.

“Well you never know what kind of trash comes from there,” Oliver glared at Len.

Mick and Len snarled at him, Len almost getting up.

“Enough!” Wells yelled, eyeing all three.

Oliver cleared his throat and started again, “we also keep up with the problems that go on there to make sure nothing threatens us. They don’t have a ruler or anything like that, just whoever has the most power tends to be in control until the next one comes and defeats them.”

“That sounds chaotic!” Caitlin commented.

“It is,” he answered, “Currently, a magician named Damien Darhk is on top. Aside from playing around with magic, he isn’t much threat to us currently, but I have been keeping a close eye on him. He is powerful, but nothing we can’t handle.

“On the other side, there is a thief name Eobard Thawne who has made it his personal mission to bring down Darhk and take over. He enlisted a number of thieves, but they were no threat to the dark magician. Thawne was losing bad, even with his tiny army, so I figured this little fight would be over soon, but I was wrong.

“Thawne disappeared for a while. We weren’t sure where he had gone to, but when he reappeared a few months later, he wasn’t alone. Thawne bonded with a dragon.”

“What!?” Cisco yelled, “I thought there were no dragons in the wastelands!?”

“There are no wild ones, and specially no powerful ones, but you will find captured ones all around, usually stolen as babies from our lands. The dragon Thawne bonded with is not one of those. He somehow sneaked over the border and found a dragon willing to bond with him.”

“Failed at your job… again,” Len smirked. It was now Oliver’s turn to snarl at him.

“Who?” Wells broke in before they got too far.

“A dragon named Hunter Zolomon, but he goes by Zoom.”

“I have heard of him, his power is speed, right?” Wells asked, Oliver nodded, “That’s not good, from what I remember of him he loves causing chaos.”

“Exactly! Which is probably why he jumped at the chance to bond with Thawne.”

“Does all of this have a point?” Len looked bored as he turned towards Barry. His fingers started playing with the back of his neck, making Barry blush crimson. Len couldn’t help but side glance Oliver with a smirk.

“I’m getting to it,” Oliver gritted. He took a deep breath before continuing, “with Zoom by Thawne’s side, Darhk was now in trouble. He is powerful, but not enough to defeat a dragon’s power.”

“Really?” Caitlin chimed.

To everyone’s surprise, Len answered, “dark magicians can do a lot of powerful spells, but nothing can match the sheer power of a dragon. It’s why magicians will pay a lot of money for any dragon. They have all sorts of spells they can use on the dragon to make themselves more powerful.” Barry looked at Len shocked, how the hell did he know? Len simply smiled at him sadly and leaned closer to Barry, but still spoke to the group, “it’s also why the thieves risk their lives and come here to steal baby dragons and eggs to sell to those magicians.” Mick grunted in agreement.

Barry wanted to ask more, to know why Len seemed to know about this so well, but he before he could, Cisco spoke up.

“So… is Darhk defeated now…?” He turned to Oliver.

“No, he disappeared. Thawne and Zoom are tearing the wastelands apart searching for him, but he has had no luck.”

“Again… point?” Len said aggravated.

“A few days ago one of our dragons happen to see someone that looked an awful lot like Darhk… inside our borders.”

“What!?” Wells yelled.

“It was a small town right outside of my temple. We started sending out scouts and we got a few hits back. He keeps moving further into our lands, showing up in different towns for a short while and then disappears into the woods where we always loose him until he shows up again somewhere else.”

“Why would he be here?”

“Well Cisco, I don’t know,” Oliver huffed.

“What if he is after a dragon?” Caitlin turned to Len, “you said dragons make them more powerful, right?”

“If that was the case, he would have found one at my temple easily. Hell, from all the spotting we have gotten, he has passed about two other temples.”

“Do you have any idea where he is heading,” Barry couldn’t help but ask.

“That, Barry, is why I’m here.” The entire table turned to look at Oliver worried. “Darhk is making a b-line straight to this temple.”

Everyone stayed quiet, unsure of what to say. After a moment of silence, Oliver spoke again, “Thawne still doesn’t know, but we are sure that the second he hears Darhk his over here, he will come as well, bringing destruction with him. I flew here to give you guys a heads up, and also to see if maybe you might know why this magician is coming here.”

“Maybe it’s you Wells?” Cisco guessed, “maybe he needs some sort of knowledge about dragons or something?”

“Maybe, but I’m guessing it’s more to do with a spell.” Wells answered, “Oliver, how long do you think we have until he gets here?”

“Basing it from how he is moving now, maybe four days?”

Wells nodded, “Cisco, I’m going to need your help. I have a few dark magic books around my library. We need to start looking through them to see if maybe we can get some idea of what Darhk might be planning.” He stood up and looked at the rest of the group, “the rest of you, get the word out to the other Keepers to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and stay close to the temple, no wondering off. Oliver, I’m assuming you are staying until this is resolved?”

“Yeah,” he glanced over at Len and Barry.

Wells sighed, “I don’t want any trouble from either one of you, we have enough problems heading our way!”

“Of course,” Oliver nodded.

Wells turned to Len, “I’m _always_ on my best behavior,” Len pulled Barry closer as he gave his signature smirk.

Barry rolled his eyes...

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know this chapter ended up being mainly exposition, but I had to get some sort of drama in this fanfic... well more than just the love triangle! lol
> 
> The next chapter will probably have a lot more Len VS Oliver!
> 
> Again guys, thank you so much for the support and please leave comments, I love reading them!


	5. Decisions, Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First kiss... and Len's past!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I decided to start writing the next chapter and my fingers didn't stop until it was done...

 

 

Wells and Cisco headed to his office once more to start looking through his black magic books. Caitlin decided to escort Oliver to his room. Oliver reluctantly followed, eying Len as he left the room, followed by Mick. Len turned and smiled at Barry, happy to finally be alone with Barry once more.

“How about we go somewhere more private.”

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…_

“Umm… Len…?” Barry wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t know how to explain to Len that he just wanted more time.

Len walked up closer, putting his arms around his waist and pulling him in. He leaned in, closed his eyes, and breathed, enjoying Barry’s scent. His hands started rubbing Barry’s sides, trying to soothe him.

“Barry, relax. I meant it when I said you have nothing to fear from me. I will never make you do anything you don’t want.”

“It’s just that… this is kind of overwhelming…”

“I know, I know. For a human, this is all very sudden. But you have to trust me Barry, we are meant for one another. I know this without a doubt.” His hand came up and caressed his cheek. “I _will_ wait until you are comfortable. I just want to know one thing.” He swallowed and Barry saw for the first time Len look worried. “Do you want me?”

Barry froze. Len wasn’t asking him to bond, but just simply if Barry was even interested. From the start of this Barry had felt like he didn’t have a choice, that it was more of Len finally wearing him down until he finally said yes and it was done. The question completely threw Barry off.

There wasn’t a doubt in Barry’s mind that he was attractive to him, hell, Len was the most gorgeous man he had ever seen. He was also aware that he enjoyed his few alone moments he had had with him. In the back of his mind, he knew it was only a matter of time before he could confidently say he loved Len, wanted to bond with him, but that wasn’t right now.

Len was willing to wait, he just wanted reassurance. In the end, Barry hadn’t really said anything about his feelings in this, and now with Oliver in the mix, he guessed Len was a bit worried.

Barry smiled at him. He reached up with both hands, wrapping them around his neck and pulled him in slowly. Len looked surprised, but came willingly. They stood still, lips ghosting around one another, breathing each other’s air.

“I do want you Len,” he whispered.

Len sucked in a breath as his body shivered. Barry felt a surge of pride at making the dragon react like that. Barry leaned in the last bit and pressed their lips together, finally getting to taste them. Len pressed himself closer, arms wrapping around Barry. He tilted his head, tongue lapping Barry’s lips, asking to enter. Barry smiled into the kiss and opened his mouth, allowing him in. His tongue dived in and Barry felt a rush of cold go through him. Len pushed in further, wanting to take over every inch of Barry’s mouth. Barry moaned and felt another shiver go through Len again.

They finally pulled back, both needing air. Len kept his eyes close, mouth open as he kept breathing. Barry had to smile at the site. His hands went from his neck to his jaw, thumbs running over his cheeks. Len opened his eyes as another shiver went through his body and smiled down at Barry. Barry leaned up and pecked his lips.

“Thank you for waiting.”

Len pressed his head against the crook of Barry’s neck. He kept holding Barry close, fingers digging into his sides. “yeah… yeah… anything…” Barry grinned and tried to pull away, but Len held him. “Just two more minutes,” he continued panting.

“You ok?”

“Yeah, yeah… its just… I can wait, but my body doesn’t feel the same way,” he chuckled.

Barry laughed and hugged Len closer, feeling him completely melt against him. After a few moments, Len finally let him go.

“How about we go eat dinner a bit early.”

“Sure,” Barry smiled.

Len grinned widely and took Barry’s hand, guiding him out of the library and headed towards the dining hall. Barry smiled as he watched Len proudly stroll down the hallway, happier than he had ever seen him.

 

They sat down with their food and Barry started digging in. Len was more preoccupied watching Barry, his arm wrapped around his waist, thumb idly caressing his side.

Barry glanced at him and watched as Len’s smile grew bigger. Barry laughed, shaking his head. He was about to tell him to stop when a very large man sat down across the table. He was in all black, his sleeveless shirt showing off his very large scarred arms. He had a hard face and looked incredibly intimidating.

“What’s with the stupid grin?”

Barry gave the man a confused look. Who the hell was he? And why the hell should he care if Len was smiling?... and it wasn’t stupid!

Len didn’t seem bothered at all, he just rolled his eyes and gave the man a look.

“Nothing you should concern yourself with, Mick.”

“MICK!?” Barry gawked at him.

He gave Barry a side smirk and huffed, “so Kid, what did you do to get him smiling like that?”

Barry blushed, making both Len and Mick laugh.

“Mick, are you picking on Barry?” Caitlin came with her plate and sat down next to Mick.

“No,” he put his arm around her and buried his nose in her hair. Barry didn’t miss the shiver that went through him as he inhaled her scent. “I’m just curious as to why Len is in such a good mood when he now has a rival.”

Len simply hummed and didn’t bother to answer.

Mick shook his head, “that aside, I need to talk to you Len.”

“Well then speak.”

“Alone.”

Len’s smile dropped and turned to Mick. He glared at him for a moment until finally nodding. Mick got up and started walking out of the dining hall. Len turned to Barry, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, and walked out.

Caitlin’s eyebrows shot up and she smiled at Barry. “Well…”

Barry scrunched up his nose, embarrassed. “Yeah… so we umm… kissed.”

“So that’s why he is in such a good mood?” Barry nodded, “Too cute! So does that mean you have decided to bond with him?”

“Well… no, not yet. It’s just…” Barry huffed. He leaned closer to Caitlin. “How did you decide? I mean, like… wasn’t it scary?”

Caitlin smiled, “yeah, very! Granted Mick didn’t ask to bond with me until weeks after we had known one another unlike Len, but it was still very quick. I was nervous, and bonding is permanent, not even death can break it.”

“WHAT!?”

Caitlin winced, “this might not be the best thing to tell you.”

“No, I want to know. What do you mean?”

“Bonding is more than just having sex Barry. The sex part is just the way to connect physically with the mate, but when you bond, the dragon merges its soul with yours. You two become one both physically and spiritually,” she blushed.

“I didn’t know… what does that feel like?”

“It’s really hard to explain, it’s just something you experience. Afterwards, you constantly have this sense of them being near, like they are always right next to you. This never goes away Barry. Even if one of you passes away, that feeling will always be there.”

“Why!? That would make it so much harder to move on.”

“True, but you are thinking as a human. For dragons, it’s a comfort, to still feel their mate with them, to help them continue on with life when they are gone.”

“Wow...” Barry nodded. This made things even more nerve wracking for him.

“Yup… but there are some other interesting parts.” She tried to change the grim subject, “After you bond, you will start being able to tell exactly where your mate is and their emotions.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it starts off really low, and it’s usually only one to start, but as time passes, it gets stronger. For Mick and I, it started with emotions. If I get really angry, or sad, he knows instantly and vice versa. It’s been a year, so it’s not that strong yet. Cisco and Lisa started with location. They have been together for three years so Cisco can tell you exactly where Lisa is if she leaves his side. Their emotions are just starting develop, so Cisco is now feeling the rage Lisa gets when she is jealous,” she laughed.

Barry couldn’t help but chuckle himself. He sat back, taking in everything Caitlin has just told him.

“Barry I didn’t mean to make you worry more about this.”

“No, no, I rather know now than later. Plus… I think you made me realize bonding is actually really sweet. I was starting to think it was just sex.”

“You will come to learn that dragons are very romantic in their ways.”

“I can see that,” Barry smiled at her and then remember something from earlier, “hey, can I ask you a more personal question?”

“Sure!”

Barry licked his lips, “earlier, when Mick hugged you… he… shivered…”

Caitlin blushed brightly, laughing at the same time. “Yeah… they do that.”

“Yeah, I noticed, Len did the same when we kissed.”

Caitlin grinned, “I asked Mick once why he did it. He just said it’s a reaction they have when they are with their mate. They get overwhelmed apparently. It’s a sign that they are really… _really_ happy.”

“Oh…” It was Barry’s turn to blush.

“Any other questions?” Caitlin giggled.

“No… no more, for now at least,” he shrugged.

They were quiet for a moment as they took a few bites from their food, both in their own heads.

“This Darhk thing is a bit crazy, huh? I didn’t realize how crazy stuff was in the wastelands.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Caitlin nodded, “I despise dark magicians. It’s because of them the temples were made.” Barry gave her a questionably look. “Before the temples were made, dark magicians used to trap dragons left and right, using them for spells. They almost made them go extinct.”

“How?”

“A lot of their spells kill the dragon. They were merciless, they just wanted more and more power. When everyone realized what was happening, they took control. The temples were made to protect the dragons, and together with them, they started running the magicians out of our land.”

“I had no idea.”

“Yeah… but that still hasn’t stopped thieves from sneaking over the border and stealing dragons when they can. It has become a lot more rare though since Oliver and his friends started guarding the border.”

Barry nodded. Oliver did seem like a genuinely good person… well dragon. He wasn’t sure why Len and him disliked one another so much. They seemed to know each other, so Barry knew it wasn’t just because of him that there was some tension.

“I hope this gets resolved soon. I don’t want any of my friends in danger. I already lost plenty in my youth, I don’t want to lose more people I love.”

“Same here,” Caitlin agreed. “Enough about this! Lets talk about how much fun we will be having tomorrow night.”

“What’s happening?”

“You don’t know! The lantern festival. I was afraid Wells was going to cancel it due to all this, but he said it will do some good to brighten people’s mood before this chaos comes. So prepare for lots of drinking and laughing!”

“I’m not a big drinker, I tend to get very handsy I have been told.”

“I think Len might like that though,” she grinned.

“I will like what?” Len walked up to the table, sitting next to Barry once more. Mick took his seat from before, stealing some of Caitlin’s food.

“I was telling Barry about the festival tomorrow.”

“We are still having that?” Len asked.

“Yup, Wells said it was ok.”

“Well in that case,” Len turned to Barry, smirking, “get ready to see Mick dance… horribly.”

“Hey! How dare you, I’m lord of the dance!” Caitlin busted out laughing, taking hold of his arm while shaking her head.

“Lord of the dance? No!” She continued laughing. Mick tried to pout, but he was unable to hide the small smirk on his lips.

Len leaned into Barry’s ear to whisper, “he loves making her laugh, so much so he will dance like an idiot to do it.”

Barry smiled as he watched Caitlin laugh while Mick tried to defend his ‘great moves’. He felt Len grab his hand, intertwining their fingers, and squeezing. Barry glanced over and saw Len had his big grin back.

Maybe this bonding thing wasn’t so scary?

 

After dinner Barry took a quick bath and headed back to his bedroom where Len was already waiting for him. He walked in and found Len standing, his back to him, with only his pants on.

Barry swallowed. _Yeah… waiting is going to be very hard._

Len turned and Barry’s eyes widened. Len was muscular, chest perfectly chiseled, making Barry’s mouth water. He wasn’t sure why his necklace being around Len’s neck made it so much hotter. Len smirked at him, raising an eyebrow.

_Bastard, he knew how this would affect him._

He walked up to him, kissing his cheek, “Ready for bed?”

Barry blushed. He managed to narrow his eyes at Len. “You are staying in that form?”

“I promise I will behave. You have my word nothing will happen tonight Barry.”

Barry nodded, and they both settled into bed, Len wrapping his arm around his waist, bringing him close. Barry pursed his lips at him.

“I’m behaving.”

“Yeah…” Barry didn’t believe that for a minute.

He smirked as his other hand came up and started running through his hair. Barry closed his eyes, relaxing into Len’s hands. He felt Len press a kiss on his forehead. Barry opened his eyes, looking straight at his necklace. His hands came up and took hold of the pendant, running it through his fingers.

“My necklace,” Len teased.

“How so?”

“It belongs to my mate, so it’s mine.”

Barry laughed at them re-enacting their first conversation. He wrapped his arms around Len’s torso, burying his face in the crook of his neck. He felt Len shiver as he tightened his hold on him, making Barry smile.

He started realizing how comfortable he was around Len, how relaxed he felt. Even when he took him to the cliff to star gaze or just go swimming, Len always made him feel safe. It was strange since he technically didn’t know anything about him. Hell, even today, Len had shown he knew a lot about the wastelands.

“Len?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you know so much about the dark magicians and stuff?” He pulled back to look at him.

Len sighed and loosened his grip on him, “experience.”

Barry furrowed his eyebrows, “what?”

“It’s a long story you don’t want to hear.”

“No, I want to know, tell me! Please?”

Len laid back, thinking it over, before finally agreeing. “I guess I will start at the beginning. I was born in the Northern mountains, where it’s nothing but snow and rock. When I hatched, I was alone in my nest. I don’t know what happened to my parents, but they had been long gone. Since I was an ice dragon, incubation wasn’t really as necessary as it is with some other dragons, so I was still able to hatch in the cold weather.

“As I started moving around my nest, I found a small golden egg, and I knew instantly that was my sister. I could sense that she was alive, but pretty weak from not being taken care of, unlike me, she didn’t have ice powers. I made it my mission to get her to hatch. I wondered around the area of our nest and gathered anything warm I could find to keep the egg toasty.

“One day I was coming back and found the nest empty. I freaked out, I knew she was still too weak to hatch, so someone had to have taken her. I ran out and was able to find human foot prints in the snow leading away from the nest. I followed them and found a large group of thieves, going around stealing whatever eggs they could find. Their leader, Lewis Snart, had been the one to take my sister.

“I wanted to rip their throats out and get my sister back, but I was still too young and could barely use my ice power. I knew if I tried to attack, they would just capture me, there were too many. I did the only thing I could, I followed them until I could find my opportunity to get my sister back.”

Barry could already tell where this was going, “you followed them to the wastelands.”

“Yup! Back then, the border wasn’t guarded as much, so it was easy for them to go in and out. It was harder for me to follow them there. The wastelands are nothing but a desert, so I no longer had the trees to help cover me. I still managed to follow them until they reached their small town. I stalked Lewis to his room and waited until dark. I wasn’t able to take on a group of humans, but one… I could handle one. I enjoyed sinking my teeth into his throat, tearing it out while he slept.” Len smirked, “I grabbed my sister and ran like hell before the others discovered the body.

“I spent the next few months in hiding, trying to find some place I could be safe. I didn’t know how to find my way back to the wall, and I couldn’t ask for directions. You see in the wastelands, dragons are either pets, sold to magicians, or eaten.”

“EATEN!?”

“Yeah, dragons are not seen as sacred there, they are tools to use. So, I had to keep hidden and away from humans. I ended up having to wonder further into the wastelands and reached what they call the Dark Forest. It’s an area where the trees are all black, and look dead, but they never rot. This was where most of the dark magicians lived. I figured at least here I had trees to help me hide. I wondered around and came across a large house in the middle of the woods. I knew instantly it was a magician’s house, there were dragon skeletons all around.

“I was just going to keep going when I heard grumbling and chains. I followed the noise to the back of the house and found a dragon there. He had chains wrapped around his top half, keeping him from moving. When he would try to use his magic, or even strength, the chains would glow and burn him. I couldn’t leave him there, with all the skeletons in the front I knew what he was headed for. I waited until night and snuck up close. I tried to use my magic to freeze the chains off, but it had no effect.

“The dragon told me to stop being stupid and run, but I didn’t care to listen. I decided to hide my sister behind one of the trees and snuck into the house, trying to find the key.

“I rather not say all the strange things I saw in there, but I can tell you I had nightmares for the next few weeks. The magician was sleeping soundly, thinking no one was stupid enough to try anything on him. I snuck up on him and found that they key was around his neck. I got close, trying not to wake him, and started to go for the key.” Len glanced at Barry and saw him intently looking at him, he chuckled, “yes Barry, he woke up.”

Barry squeaked, making Len laugh harder.

“I started running all around his house, bringing down shelves and tables as he chased after me. At one point he ended up cornering me. I was terrified, I didn’t want to be captured, and not to mention my sister would either be left alone or worse, he would get her too. He went to attack me, but I opened my mouth and gave the strongest blast of cold I could muster.

“When I opened my eyes, the entire house was frozen. The magician fell back, breaking into pieces. After I gathered myself from the shock of having that much power, I grabbed the key and ran out, freeing the dragon and all three of us got the hell out of there. After we felt a bit safe and able to stop running, he introduced himself as Mick.”

“Mick had been captured by a magician?”

“Yup, thieves take advantage of baby dragons who can’t use their powers yet since they can’t handle the adult ones, and that’s what happened to Mick, he was taken as a baby from his nest. You saw his scars on his arms? Those were from those chains.”

“But I thought you couldn’t burn a fire dragon.”

“With fire, no, but that was dark magic that scarred him.”

“Oh…”

“Anyways, he asked me what my name was and I couldn’t answer, I didn’t have one. He laughed and said that needed to be fixed. We continued wondering around the woods until he and I grew strong enough to turn into our human forms. The people over there are ignorant to what dragons can do, so they have no idea dragons can do that. Even with our eyes, they just thought we were magicians under some sort of spell. We did keep away from magicians though, they knew, and would try to capture us somehow.”

“Was Lisa still an egg?”

“Yup, but she started growing a big stronger with me taking care of her. When she finally hatched, she was so tiny. She hid under my shirt while Mick and I wondered around from town to town out there. I think she became accustomed to it and it’s why she loves hiding under Cisco’s shirt.”

Barry laughed.

“It was after a very drunk night that somehow Lisa decided what our names would be. She liked the name Lisa and said I was Leonard and I had no choice. Mick said we should take his last name, Rory, but we both hated that. I made the joke of making it Snart since that bastard Lewis was the one that got us over there and it stuck.”

“You took on the last name of your sister’s kidnapper?”

“Yup!” Barry shook his head.

“Soon Lisa learned to transform too and then all three of us wondered around. We actually started liking living out there, stealing whatever we needed or wanted, it was very free. We became very good thieves. We spent years out there, until one day Lisa had had enough and wanted to come here. She made the excuse that she didn’t like what the dry air did to her hair,” Len rolled his eyes, “so we started making our way to the wall. Unfortunately, Oliver had now taken over as guard and it was near impossible to get through. We made the mistake of thinking that because we were dragons, we could come in, but we were wrong.”

“What!?”

“We were attacked by the dragons. We did get them to stop after we proved we were dragons too. Oliver stated we still weren’t allowed to go through. He said we had a certain mindset that would mean trouble for those on the other side. Lisa was pissed and said she didn’t even care about going over there anymore. I took it personal and made it my mission to get us over to the other side.” Barry huffed, “I studied their routine, found the gaps we needed, and I got all three of us safely over the wall under their noses.”

“Really? I mean, that doesn’t seem to be a big deal for Oliver to not like you as much as he does.”

“Well…” Len winced.

Barry glared at him, “Len what did you do.”

“Like I said… it was personal… so I might have frozen over half their temple and turned it into a large block of ice.”

“LEN!”

“I made sure no one was killed… Plus I technically did them a favor. It’s very dry out there, so ice is a rarity.”

Barry started laughing, “you are such an asshole!”

Len shrugged again. “After we crossed the wall, we were completely awestruck. There was just so much over here, and the fact that we were practically worshipped by the humans was a bit much for us at first. We stayed in the woods, going into town or a temple every once in a while. Then one day we got to this temple and everything changed. Lisa met Cisco and started flirting with him. After a few weeks she announced she was bonding with him. I was less than thrilled. We stayed while I made sure Cisco was going to treat her right. By the second year, I felt satisfied and Mick and I were ready to go when Caitlin showed up… and Mick was hooked.”

“And you were left all alone,” Barry said sadly.

“Yeah… but then one afternoon, while I was annoying the shit out of the Keepers in town by icing random things, I saw Julian guiding this really beautiful guy up to the temple.” Len smirked at him.

“I’m not ‘beautiful’,” Barry pouted.

Len pulled him close again, pressing their foreheads together. “You will understand when we bond Barry. That is when you will finally feel what I feel for you and know I’m telling the truth.”

Barry shyly smiled at him. Len gazed at him as he slowly tilted his head, leaning in closer and pressing their lips softly. It was Barry’s turn to push his tongue out, diving into Len’s mouth first as he happily opened up for him. Their tongues started pushing against one another, enjoying each other’s taste. Len shifted and started getting on top of Barry, pressing his whole weight down on him. Barry’s arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him in harder, causing Len to shiver.

Barry started losing himself in the kiss, wanting more. He wrapped his legs around Len’s torso, pressing himself more towards him. Len shivered again as he groaned, breaking the kiss and pulling up.

Len looked down at Barry’s swollen lips, hooded eyes, and flushed cheeks.

He shut his eyes tightly, “nope, nope, nope, can’t behave after all.” Barry was blinded for a second as Len started glowing brightly. When he finally opened his eyes, Len in his dragon form was climbing off him and laying on the side.

Barry licked his lips, a bit disappointed, but also loving the fact that Len was keeping his word.

“I still expect to be cuddled,” he ordered.

Barry turned towards him and wrapped his arms around his form. “Thank you, Len.” He kissed his cheek.

Len hummed happily.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I said this one was going to have Len VS Oliver, but I got sidetracked and then it became really long, and well... yeah... so next chapter should have some Oliver stuff, though after this, I'm pretty sure there isn't going to be much of a fight...
> 
> I will say it in every chapter ending... THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT!! Your comments make my day! Thank you!


	6. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver bites off more than he can chew...

 

 

“Len!!” Barry struggled to get him to let go.

“No! You are staying with me!”

Barry once again was having to fight to be able to get out of bed like he had the morning before. Len insisted on him sleeping in with him. Half of Barry’s torso was now hanging out of the bed, but he had Len pulling him from behind, his tail wrapped around his waist, keeping him from getting any further.

“I have to help around the temple!”

“You heard Wells yesterday, your job is to stay with me!”

“No!” Barry huffed. He knew if he fought long enough Len would eventually give up, like he had yesterday. Barry started trying to pull himself off again when he saw his room light up, the source coming from behind him.

_Nooooo…_

He felt strong arms grab him by his chest and heave him back on the bed. Barry fell back on the mattress, looking up, as Len in his human form climbed on top of him, holding his hands above his head. Barry swallowed as he blushed.

“Now… you are going to stay with me,” Len he raised his eyebrow at him.

“Len!” Barry tried to struggle against him, stopping immediately when he felt something, or lack of. “Ummm… Len?”

“Yes?” He said amused.

“Are you naked?” Barry squeaked.

“Why yes my mate, I’m always naked when I’m in dragon form.”

“But… your pants?”

“They fell off when I transformed last night. They are probably somewhere in these blankets.”

Barry was left speechless as his face turned crimson, Len’s smirk grew. He let go of his arms and wrapped them around Barry’s torso.

“How about I make you a deal, you just stay here for just five more minutes, and then you can leave, deal?”

“Five minutes?” Barry asked suspiciously.

“Just five minutes,” he whispered as he leaned in, pressing his lips lightly on one cheek. “You can give me that, right?” He kissed his other cheek.

Barry sucked in a breath _. He could do five minutes… yeah, that wasn’t too bad..._

Barry nodded, giving him a shy smile. Len hummed as he finally pressed their lips together. Barry’s arms came up and wrapped them around Len, deepening the kiss. Barry couldn’t lie to himself, he was starting to love kissing Len. His lips were soft, and plump, and delicious. Barry moaned into the kiss, making Len shiver. He smiled, guess Len enjoyed kissing him too.

 

Barry pouted as he stomped down the hallway, a grinning Len walking behind him as they headed towards the dining hall.

_That was no five minutes!!!_

Len had kept on kissing him, making Barry’s mind go hazy, losing complete track of time, and that was before Len started kissing and sucking on his neck. By the time Barry came to, it was closer to lunch time than breakfast!

“You did that on purpose!”

“Maybe,” Len drawled.

Barry huffed, even more aggravated that Len was so damn proud of himself. They continued walking down the hallway when they almost ran into Cisco.

“There you are. I thought you had died or something!”

“Sorry, got… caught up,” he side gazed Len who blew a kiss at him.

Cisco looked between them before laughing. “Yeah… Snarts are possessive, I would know. And I can see Len has the same habit as Lisa.”

Barry looked at him puzzled until Cisco pointed at his neck. Barry slapped his hand on his neck and glared at Len.

“You marked me!?” Len simply shrugged.

“Get used to hickies Barry,” Cisco rolled his eyes as a certain dragon giggled from under his shirt.

 

After finally getting some food, Cisco guided Barry over to one end of the garden area where Caitlin was already starting on making the little paper lanterns for tonight. Barry sat at the small table that had been set up and started getting instructions from Caitlin. They began talking and laughing at the pouting faces from both Mick and Len who sat near them, bored to death.

“You could always help us,” Caitlin laughed.

“No thanks, not the ‘crafty’ type,” Len rolled his eyes.

They continued working until Cisco came by, asking Mick and Len for help setting up some of the tents. He figured their strength would make the process a lot easier. They both reluctantly agreed and followed Cisco.

Caitlin immediately turned to Barry, “sooo…?”

“What?”

“Missed you at breakfast this morning,” she said suggestively.

Barry laughed, “nothing happened, he just tricked me… by kissing me… a lot…” he blushed.

“Mmm… I can see that,” she said amused. Barry immediately covered the mark on his neck, making a face. “You are going to be bonded before you know it!” She teased.

Barry tossed some of the rice paper at her, making her laugh harder. She noticed they were about to be out of wire, so she decided to head inside and grab more. Barry continued making his tiny lantern quietly, lost in his own thoughts. He was starting to like the idea of being bonded with Len. Barry could admit he was fun to be around. The asshole was somehow winning him over.

“Hello Barry.”

Barry was startled out of his thoughts. Oliver sat in front of him with a large smile plastered on his face.

Barry gulped nervously, “hi…”

Oliver leaned in closer, looking at his lantern, “nice job.”

“Thanks…”

He looked back at him and chuckled, “guess that’s a sign for me?” He gestured towards his neck.

Barry blushed again, he was definitely going to talk to Len about this marking business. And speaking of talking to people… He also didn’t want Oliver getting the wrong idea. He was nice, but he just… wasn’t Len.

“Look Oliver…”

“I know,” he cut him off. Barry gave a confused look. “I know I don’t stand a chance. Especially when I heard you guys share a room.”

“Well… he just sort of moved in…”

Oliver laughed, “yeah, that’s not surprising.”

Barry studied him for a moment before speaking. “I’m sorry.”

He smiled, “It’s ok, I figured I was too late anyways. I just wanted to ruffle Len’s feathers a bit. The asshole did freeze half my temple.”

Barry laughed, “yeah, heard about that. I also heard about you not letting them into our lands.”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “that’s true. But before you judge, you should know that I had my reasons.”

Barry crossed his arms.

“I know it was an asshole thing to do. But I’m the one that has dealt with people, even dragons, that have come from over there. It’s not unheard of for magicians to train dragons to come here and steal for them.”

“Well… it was still messed up.”

Oliver hummed, “but that is not my point of coming here. I just wanted to let you know I’m backing off.”

“Good.”

“Well damn, thanks,” he said sarcastically.

“I just meant…” Barry winced, “I didn’t want you guys fighting. Not for me.”

“Just so you know, you would be worth the frostbite,” he laughed, “but, I know that even if I was to win, you would want him anyways.”

Barry turned his gaze down, Oliver did have a point. He wanted to be with Len, he might not be able to say yes to bonding just yet, but still… He looked at him and nodded, “sorry again…”

Oliver gave him a smirk, and that was the only warning Barry got. Oliver quickly leaned in, pressing their lips together and stealing a kiss from him.

“Had to at least get one,” he winked.

Barry was about to start yelling at him for having the nerve to steal a kiss, but he didn’t get the chance. He watched as Oliver was pulled back and sent flying across the garden, crashing into the trees. Len growled before blasting ice in his direction, freezing every tree around where he landed. Oliver managed to dodge the blast in time, barely missing the ice.

“Calm the fuck down Snart!” Oliver yelled.

“You dare to kiss my mate and think I’m going to let you live!?”

“Listen to me!” Oliver tried but Len didn’t care. He blasted another wave of ice towards him, destroying anything it touched. Oliver started running, trying to evade his attacks as Len got closer.

Barry began moving towards Len to get him to stop, but Wells quickly came up behind him, grabbing him.

“You can’t go there, Len’s power is out of control, you will die if you get close to him! Trust me, there is a reason why even Oliver isn’t getting near!”

“but it’s not what Len thinks, I have to stop him!”

“There isn’t anything we can do!”

Oliver kept barely missing each blast, trying to talk reason into Len who was out for his blood. Barry kept pulling at Wells’s hold, he had to do something, he didn’t want either of them getting hurt because of him.

“Wells!” Barry pleaded.

“Barry, you will die. If you were bonded you would be immune to his powers, but right now, you will be frozen stiff before you get close.”

“There has to be something we can do to stop them?”

“The only person that can get close…”

Before Wells could finish his sentence, Barry saw Mick pass them and run towards Len. Cisco stopped right next to them, breathing hard.

“Heard the growl,” he shrugged.

Mick powered up before reaching Len, grabbing him from behind, hooking his arms up and lifting him off the ground.

“Calm down!”

“Let go Mick!” Len growled. When Mick didn’t respond, Len started blasting ice all around himself. Mick quickly countered with his power, causing a large ball of alternating ice and fire to come around them.

“You know that won’t work on me.”

“I WANT HIS HEAD!” Len blasted another ice wave towards Oliver. Mick quickly pulled him in another direction, helping the now tired Oliver. Mick started trying to calm Len down while keeping him from attacking Oliver anymore.

Barry pulled on Wells’s hold again, but he held on tightly. “Not yet.”

Barry huffed, frustrated that there was nothing he could do to stop this, especially since he felt like this was all his fault. He wanted to go to Len and explain. Oliver wasn’t a threat to him, this was all a stupid mistake.

Mick was finally getting through to Len, calming him enough to where their powers started receding.

“Wow, so this was fun,” Cisco tried to lighten the mood. Barry turned to him, not amused. “Hey man, it happens more often than you think.”

“Yeah, but Len is furious.”

Cisco leaned in, “just remember, dragons love being worshiped,” he winked. Barry shook his head.

Len huffed as Mick drew back his arms. Oliver tried to get near, but Mick growled at him, his hand raised to keep him away. Oliver understood and started walking away. Mick glared at Len again, whispering something that Barry was unable to understand, and Len nodded.

He slightly turned towards the group, “Barry!”

Wells let go of his arm and Barry was finally free to go towards him. Len quickly grabbed his hand and started walking towards the temple. He avoided everyone they passed and headed towards their room. They walked inside and Len quickly closed the door and pushed Barry up against it. He dived down and started kissing Barry roughly, completely devouring his mouth. Before pulling all the way back, Len licked his lips, growling.

“You are mine,” he gritted.

“Yeah,” trying to catch his breath. Len nodded, satisfied and backed off.

They both settled themselves on the bed, Len wrapping his arms around Barry. He buried his face against his chest and huffed. Barry looked down and saw Len was still pouting. He wasn’t sure what to do.

“Len, it’s not what you think.”

“He kissed you.”

“I didn’t know he was going to do that. I would have stopped him.” Len grumbled. Barry cradled his head, leaning down and kissing the top. “I swear Len, I had just finished telling him I wanted you.”

There was a knock on the door, making Len stiffen and growl.

“It’s just me!” Caitlin called from outside.

Barry got up and opened the door. Caitlin stood there with a plate of snacks. “Figured you could use something to eat since I’m assuming you are going to be here for a while.” She glanced at the stern-faced Len on the bed. Barry winced at her as he took the food from her. She leaned in and whispered to Barry, “compliments go a long way with them.” She smiled and started walking away, letting Barry close the door.

Barry put down the food near the bed and crawled back in. Len immediately grabbed onto him again, going back to how they were before. Barry ran his fingers around Len’s head, scratching lightly. He didn’t know what else to say to him. He didn’t want Len moping like this anymore.

“Lenny, I’m sorry.”

“Did you like it?”

“What!? No! I told you, I didn’t even approve it! He just kissed me!”

“Still…”

He pulled Len’s head up, making him look at him, “I don’t want to be kissed by anyone but you.”

“You mean it?”

Barry smiled, “no one drives me as crazy as you do when you kiss me,” he leaned in and pecked his lips.

“You are mine,” he said trying to convince himself more than Barry.

“Yes, I am. Plus, Oliver never had a chance. He can’t match these cute little cheeks,” he pinched them, “or this cute little nose,” he poked it with his finger, making Len huff, “or these beautiful eyes that have captured me from day one.”

Len smiled fully at him, pulling him closer, “more!”

Barry chuckled, “ok, your lips are just so kissable, they frustrate me how easily they can distract me.”

Len laughed, “more!”

“Ummm… seeing you without your shirt on yesterday made my mouth water.”

Len grinned widely, “more, more, more!”

Barry laughed as he pulled Len into a deep kiss. Guess both Cisco and Caitlin were right, dragons loved being complimented.

 

The sun had already set by the time they finally emerged from the room. They had spent most of the afternoon just talking and enjoying their privacy. Len’s mood had completely changed and Barry couldn’t be happier.

They made their way to the garden where the festival was being held. Barry was left speechless when he finally walked out, it was beautiful. The little lanterns were all hung and lit, brightening the entire garden, well almost. The side that was still covered in ice was left clear. There were large tables set up with food for everyone to eat. The band was set up to one side, already starting their music. All the Keepers were making their way around, happily chit chatting and drinking with one another.

“Come on,” Len leaned in.

He guided him away from the main area where all the Keepers were, closer to the woods. Barry finally noticed Caitlin and Cisco already setting themselves up with a blanket on the ground. They had brought over some food from the tables too. Mick was coming up with a large jug of wine and cups for all of them. Barry realized they really couldn’t mingle too close to the Keepers without causing some sort of issue with their dragons.

They finally saw Len and Barry walking up, greeting both of them.

“Barry! Welcome to the festival!” Caitlin said cheerily.

“This is beautiful!”

“Yup! Get ready for some heavy drinking,” Cisco smiled as he took the jug from Mick.

Barry felt arms wrap around his shoulders from behind, a woman’s arms. Barry quickly jumped, tearing himself away from the embrace. The last thing he needed was for Len to be pissed again. He turned and saw a beautiful dark haired woman, giving him a familiar smirk.

“Aww… Lenny, you made him scared to be touched!”

Barry narrowed his eyes, “Lisa?”

“Correct cutie!”

He watched her stroll up to Cisco and take hold of him, Cisco immediately melting into her embrace. Barry couldn’t blame him, Lisa was definitely Len’s sister, they both had that damn irresistible aura around them.

Barry turned and looked at Len, who was staring off at the main area with a stern face. Barry followed his gaze and saw he was glaring at Oliver who was laughing with Wells. Barry pulled his attention back to him and smiled.

“I’m yours,” he whispered. Len smiled and kissed his cheek.

“Come on people! Time to party!” Mick grinned.

They all sat down on the blanket and started enjoying their night. They laughed, drank and ate, telling random stories from their adventures in the wastelands. Barry quickly learning Len, Mick and Lisa had been through a lot in their lives. He was a bit jealous, he wanted to have adventures too.

“No worries Barry, you and I can go on our own adventures,” Len smirked.

“Really? I loved traveling with my parents, I miss going to new places all the time.”

“Yeah, we can start by traveling to each temple if you like. But this will happen AFTER we bond. I don’t need you attracting more dragons who I have to fight.”

Barry blushed as the entire group laughed. The night continued with lots of drinking. Barry was already feeling the effects, leaning in closer to Len, hugging his arm, and looking for any excuse to touch him. As Caitlin predicted, Len didn’t mind at all.

Soon, they were all drunk, laughing at one another. Lisa now had Cisco in her lap, his head snugged between her breasts. Caitlin was leaning into Mick, his arm around her shoulders. Barry had worked himself onto Len’s lap, much to his delight.

“Wait,” Barry slurred, “what is your power Lisa?” He realized they hadn’t really mentioned it.

Lisa grinned as one of her hands went behind Cisco and suddenly appeared, coming through his chest. Barry screamed as they all laughed.

“I have an astral form that allows me to go through anything.”

“It’s very annoying, you can never lock a door on her,” Len rolled his eyes. “But it sure made stealing easy.”

The music changed to a more upbeat tune and Mick smacked his leg, “yes! Time to dance!”

Both Len and Lisa started booing him as he stumbled and got up. Barry watched with amusement as Mick steadied himself and then started to move his hips and arms.

It was completely off the beat to the drums, he had no rhythm, it made no sense, it was horrible… and amazing all at the same time!

Caitlin started dying laughing, falling and laying on the blanket. Lisa started tossing grapes at him, trying to stop him from dancing as Cisco laughed. Len simply shook his head. Barry couldn’t help himself.

“Mick! You are amazing! Go lord of the dance! Go!”

Lisa turned to him, shocked, “Len! Stop him, we can’t encourage this!”

Mick pointed his finger at Barry, “I knew I liked you for a reason kid.” He continued dancing awfully.

Barry kept on cheering him.

“I got this,” Len pushed Barry down, getting on top and crashing their lips, shutting Barry up. When he finally pulled back, Barry was left speechless.

“No fair,” Barry whispered.

“What’s not fair?”

“Using your lips against me.”

“How can they be used against you when they belong to you?” He smirked.

His hand came up and touched Len’s lips, feeling how soft they were, “mine.”

“All yours,” Len leaned back down and kissed him, Barry once again losing himself in the kiss as he continued to hear Caitlin laughing in the background and Lisa groaning.

The rest of the night was spent with more drinks and laughter. Barry at one point even joined Mick with his dancing, even Cisco wasn’t able to resist. By the end of the night, all of them were up and dancing, enjoying their night. Barry laughed as he was spun around by Len, he could not remember ever having this much fun. Everything was perfect.

 

Barry opened his eyes and quickly closed them again, groaning at the bright morning light. His head was pounding and his whole body ached. He carefully opened his eyes again and looked around. He was in his room, in his bed, and he had no memory of how he got there.

Len was pressed behind him, his arm lazily wrapped around him. Barry lifted the covers and realized both he and Len were naked. He quickly sat up, panicking.

Len moaned and looked at him, “Barry… it’s way too early.”

“What happened last night?” Barry glared at him.

Len rubbed his eyes and looked at Barry, “do you not remember?”

“NO! I remember dancing and that’s about it. Why am I naked?”

Len looked at him, studying for a moment before finally speaking.

“You don’t remember anything?”

“Len!?”

He licked his lips, finally answering his question, “Barry… we bonded last night.”

“WHAT!!!?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, before you guys kill me, I wouldn't cheat you like that with their first time. Just know Len is going to regret that lie! That is all I'm going to say about this ending... It's a bit of a spoiler, but I didn't want you guys mad at me. 
> 
> Some quick notes: Len does have the same strength in dragon and human form, he is just more careful when he is in dragon form since he could easily hurt Barry with is claws, which is why he man handles him more when in human form. Also, I decided to go with more of the comic book powers for Golden Glider instead of the CW show, just for convenience in the story, so she can astral project her body instead of turning stuff into gold. 
> 
> Thank you for the support you guys keep giving me! I love your comments and all the wonderful guesses you guys will make! Please feel free to leave more, they always make my day!


	7. Uninvited Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry goes through a rollercoaster of emotions... and it's just getting started.

 

 

“WHAT!!!?” Barry immediately grabbed his head, his yell making the migraine ten times worse.

Len sat up and started rubbing his back, “are you ok?”

“Hungover, that’s all.” He turned and fiercely glared at Len. “What do you mean we bonded?”

“We were both drunk and it sort of… happened.”

Barry looked away, trying to gather all his thoughts. He was already bonded with Len? The decision was made? They were now mates? What the fuck!! Barry should be furious, he should want to strangle Len since he told him he wanted to wait and he had agreed. But instead he felt… relieved?

He no longer had this massive decision to make, this huge commitment. He no longer kept having to think what if it was the wrong choice. It was done, there was no going back. He and Len were going to be together forever.

No more pressure… no more fear.

If fact, the only thing he hated about this was…

“I’m sorry,” he turned to Len.

Len narrowed his eyes at him, confused, “what?”

“For not remembering.” He couldn’t believe after all this, he had no memory of his first time with Len. It was his only regret.

“Barry…” Len started, but was cut off.

“No, listen. I’m not mad, honest. I know I said I wanted to wait, but there is nothing we can do now, it’s done, right?”

Len was silent.

“So there is no use in grieving about it,” Barry shrugged. He winced as the movement reminded him of his migraine.

“So… you aren’t mad?”

Barry smiled, “surprisingly… no.”

He reached over and pulled Len into a tender kiss. A small smile started creeping into Len’s face as he slowly pushed Barry down got on top, deepening the kiss. Barry’s body and head were no longer in pain as he focused solely on Len. His mind started going hazy and Barry started to remind himself to keep focused, when he realized something, he was already bonded with Len, no need to stop.

Barry pushed his tongue in further, moaning, and enjoyed the shiver that went through Len. He may not remember his first time, but he sure as hell was going to remember his second. He pushed his hips up, grinding himself against Len. He groaned and pushed back, Barry feeling him starting to harden. He smiled and went to push up against him again when Len suddenly pulled back.

He shook his head, “how about we get you some breakfast, it will help your hangover,” he said out of breath.

Fuck the hangover, Barry wanted to take care of another issue he was having!

Before he could object, Len quickly got up and started getting dressed. Barry pouted as he slowly sat up. Len passed him his pants and continued putting his own clothes. Barry sighed, his head was still pounding, so maybe breakfast wasn’t such a bad idea. He could wait until tonight, although that felt like eternity at this moment.

 

They made their way to the dining hall, Len telling Barry to go sit down and he would bring him food. Barry quickly found his group and went to join them. Caitlin had her head down on the table. She slightly lifted her head, her hair a mess and dark shadows under her eyes. She grumbled a ‘good morning’ as Barry sat. He laughed, at least he wasn’t as bad as she was. Cisco on the other hand was brightly smiling and eating his breakfast happily.

“Morning guys,” Barry smiled, “I guess I don’t have to ask how your morning is going.”

“Yeah, some people can’t handle their wine,” Mick grinned as he sat down with a plate of food for Caitlin. She finally lifted her head and gave him a half sided smile as she started to nibble.

“Yup!” Cisco laughed, “including a certain someone that has yet to wake up.” He pulled his shirt collar out and looked inside. Barry figured Lisa was still passed out under there.

“Well, at least everyone’s morning is going better than mine,” Barry huffed. “I bonded with Len last night and I have no memory of it.”

“WHAT!!?” Caitlin screamed, wincing immediately afterwards.

“Yup!” Barry said dryly.

Cisco kept opening his mouth and closing it, not sure what to say. They all sat there quietly, just taking in the news. Len finally came and sat down with Barry’s plate, glancing at everyone.

“Morning…”

“You two bonded last night!?” Cisco finally spoke.

Len inhaled before answering, “yes…”

“What the fuck!?”

“Cisco, please stop screaming,” Caitlin pleaded.

“We were both drunk,” Len murmured.

Caitlin turned to Barry, “sorry…?”

Barry laughed, “it’s ok guys, it just sucks I don’t remember.” He gave Len a quick smile as he started nibbling on his food.  

“Well then… congrats!” She changed. Barry grinned as Len nodded. 

Cisco finished his breakfast and was the first to leave, Wells needing him to continue doing research on the black magic books. He also wanted to go tell him the news that Len and Barry were officially mates now. Mick who had been silent since the news, finally stood and grabbed Len, saying they needed to talk again. Len reluctantly followed him.

Caitlin smiled at Barry while still rubbing her head, “so… how do you feel?”

Barry shrugged, “no different really.”

“Oh no worries, it starts off really low, but you will soon start picking up on your mate’s feelings or location, you will see.” She furrowed her eyebrows, “you aren’t disappointed are you?”

“No… yes… sort of…” Barry played with some of his food, trying to gather his thoughts. “I just really hate that I don’t remember.”

“That’s your only regret? I mean, you were kind of scared over the whole bonding thing.”

“I know! I thought I would be too, I was so confused this morning. But when I thought about it, I was fine, kind of happy actually. I just hate that I don’t remember…”

“Well, you will get a lot of opportunities to repeat it,” she laughed and winced again. “Need to remember not to laugh so hard.”

Barry smiled, in the end, there was nothing he could do to change it. He was now Len’s mate. His smile grew bigger at the thought.

Caitlin suddenly sat up more, shaking her head a bit. Barry looked at her confused, not sure what had just happened.

“Sorry, Mick just got really mad all of the sudden. Dragon emotions are way stronger than human.”

“He’s mad?”

“Yeah… something just pissed him the hell off. I’m going to go find him, you should go to Wells, he will probably want to talk to you about this whole thing.”

Barry nodded as they both started getting up.

 

Barry did go to Wells and explained the situation. Wells found it amusing, even making a few jokes which Barry didn’t appreciate. The news spread quickly throughout the entire Temple. Everyone that Barry ran into congratulated him and wished them well.

Len had disappeared. Barry even tried to find him a few times but he was nowhere to be found. He figured he wouldn’t be as protective over him now that they were bonded, but he didn’t think he would just straight up abandon him. It wasn’t until he was preparing for bed that Len finally walked into the room.

“Where the hell have you been all day?”

“I’m sorry, I just had some stuff to take care of…”

“Is everything ok?” Barry walked up to him, cupping his face and giving him a quick peck.

“Yeah,” he smiled, “everything is fine.”

Barry felt like he was forcing himself, unsure as to why. “Well you missed Oliver’s face when he found out.”

“Was he heartbroken?” He smirked.

Barry rolled his eyes, “he congratulated me, and then asked where you were,” Len hummed, not wanting to talk about it more.

They laid down in the bed and Barry started getting excited. He had been waiting all day for this, to finally be with Len… and actually remember. He turned sideways and pulled Len into a kiss. He pushed himself flush to Len’s body and loved the feel of Len wrapping his arms around his body. He started deepening the kiss, about to get on top, when once again Len pulled back. He pressed their foreheads together, panting, thinking hard.

“Is something wrong?”

Len gave him a sad smile, “no, just… tired…”

“Oh,” _well this sucks_ , “it’s ok. We can just go to sleep then,” he chuckled.

Len leaned in and kissed him, nodding. “Good night Barry,” he whispered.

“Night Len.”

Barry snuggled close to him and tried to fall asleep, but his mind was now racing too much. Did he do something wrong? It wasn’t crazy to think that Len would want him after they bonded, right? That was even normal for humans. Was he bad last night? Did he say something stupid? Barry really wished he could remember. He felt his stomach drop as the thought that maybe Len regretted his decision. Could that happen? Dragons did change their mind before bonding, so what stopped that from happening after? What if Len finally got what he wanted and realized Barry wasn’t right?

_No, no, no…_ He needed to stop thinking this, he would just worry himself over nothing… maybe…

He closed his eyes and started forcing himself to sleep. In the morning things would be different… yeah… things will be better and his doubts would be gone.

 

His doubts doubled.

Len woke up and immediately got out of bed before Barry was even fully awake. Something was definitely off. There was no way in hell Len would be getting up early without any reason. Barry stood up and got dressed silently. His thoughts from last night started rushing back and he couldn’t hold himself back anymore.

“Do you regret it?” He finally spoke.

Len turned to him confused, “what?”

“The bond, do you regret bonding with me?”

“No!” Len said shocked.

“Then what is going on? You have been acting weird since yesterday.”

“It’s… Barry…”

“Look, it’s ok if you changed your mind, we can figure something out…”

“Barry, I would never regret boding with you!”

“Then what? Why aren’t you coming near me? You keep avoiding me, so the only thing I can think of is that you don’t want me…” Barry felt tears almost coming, but he kept a hard face.

Len looked away, fighting with something in his mind until he finally growled out of frustration. “You were supposed to be mad at me!”

“What?”

“You weren’t supposed to accept it. I was prepared for you to be mad and not speak to me for a few days until fucking Oliver left.”

“What are you talking about?”

Len stood straight, breathing hard, “we aren’t bonded.”

Barry’s whole body went numb, “wha…?” he barely managed to say.

“We didn’t bond, I lied.”

Barry narrowed his eyes, “why…?”

“I wanted Oliver to back off. I figured I could lie about this so he would think you were mine and it was done.”

“Oliver!? This was because of him!?” Barry started feeling his anger grow.

“I thought you were going to be mad so you wouldn’t speak to me, but then you were ok, and you were even pushing for more, and I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t want to have you because of some lie, so I kept my distance. I was going to tell you the truth after he left.”

“Oliver said he was backing off!”

“He still kissed you!!” Len growled.

“So you decide to play some cruel joke on me instead?”

“It wasn’t meant to be like that Barry. Please listen…”

“NO!” Barry yelled, “you listen to me! You have had me racking my brain, trying to remember something that never happened. Had me feeling fucking awful at the thought that I would never remember that first night together. You even had me thinking that I somehow fucked up and you regretted us being together!”

“Barry I’m sorry, I will spend the rest of our lives making it up, I swear to you!” He started moving towards him.

Barry quickly rose his hand up to stop him, “No!” Barry couldn’t believe what he had just heard. He couldn’t believe Len had lied to him like this. He was so angry he didn’t know if he wanted to hurt him or just cry.

“Barry, please…”

“No! You don’t get to just say sorry Len, not with this. Honestly I don’t even know if I want to be your mate.”

“You don’t mean that,” Len panicked.

Barry shook his head, “you want to do something for me Len, stay the fuck away from me. I don’t even want to look at your face right now.” Barry walked out of the room, slamming the door as Len called out to him.

Barry didn’t know where he was going, but he felt like he was falling apart. He just wanted to go somewhere and be alone for a while. He couldn’t believe he lied to him, especially about this. Barry felt like such as idiot about this whole thing.

He continued stomping down the hallway until he almost crashed into Caitlin. She took one look and immediately cradled his face, asking what was wrong. Barry dug his face into the crook of her neck and started crying, he couldn’t even speak. Caitlin just held him tightly and let him continue crying. After he composed himself a bit, Caitlin led him into one of the empty dorm rooms and had him sit on the bed. She sat next to him, rubbing his back and patiently waited for Barry to finally speak.

Barry sniffed, “I’m not bonded.”

“What!?”

“Len lied to me…”

Caitlin looked away for a moment, shaking her head, “I’m going to get Mick on him!”

Barry huffed, “please do, I want him to kick his ass for me.”

“I’m so sorry Barry.”

“I just… I’m so mad. I can’t believe he did this.”

“Did he say why?”

“Something about wanting Oliver to back off… He said he thought I would be mad and just not talk to him and then he would tell me the truth when Oliver left.”

“That idiot!”

“I know! I just… I was happy… and  now… ugh! I even told him I didn’t want to be his mate.”

“Did you mean that?”

“No…” He pouted.

Caitlin gave him a small smile, “well the positive thing is that now you know you don’t fear being his mate as much as you thought before.”

“yeah…”

“And you have the power to make this big lie a reality.” Barry deepened his pout. “I don’t mean right now of course. You need to make him pay for this.”

“Yeah I do! I should make him do my chores for a while!”

“YES! We can get Wells to tell us the worst jobs and make Len do them.”

Barry laughed, “my revenge will benefit the temple, perfect,” he joked. He turned to Caitlin, giving her a soft smile, “Thank you Caitlin, for everything you have done for me. I don’t know how I would have survived this place without you.”

“No thank you needed, we are family now,” she wiped some of his tears away.

Barry cleaned himself as best he could and they started heading to go get breakfast. Before reaching the hall, Cisco stopped them, telling them they needed to head to the library. Apparently Wells may have found what Darhk was after. They walked in at the same time Mick was getting there, Oliver and Wells were already waiting for them. They all sat down and watched as Wells pulled out one of his books.

“So thanks to Cisco, I think I may have found what spell Darhk is intending on using to defeat Zoom and Thawne. It’s called Draco Virtutem, which translates to Dragon Power.”

“What does it do?” Oliver asked.

“It basically gives the magician the power of whatever dragon he puts the spell on. It’s not something just any magician can do, but Darhk is powerful enough to do it. The problem is that a dragon’s power is tied to their life-force. A dragon knows when to stop using his power so that it doesn’t endanger himself. A magician cannot tell, nor does he care, and will continue to use the dragon’s power until the very last drop, essentially killing the dragon.”

“That’s horrible!”

“Indeed Caitlin. With the right dragon’s power, Darhk could actually defeat Zoom.”

“So Darhk is after one specific dragon! That’s why he has been skipping the other temples!”

“Correct Oliver,” Cisco chimed in, “and what would be best to use to slow a speedster dragon AND can only be found in this temple?” Everyone gave him an expectant look, “Oliver’s best friend,” Cisco laughed as Lisa snickered from his shoulder.

“He is after Len!?” Barry sat up.

“Ice would work best, and Len is the only known ice dragon around,” Well finished. “Where is he by the way? He is the main one that should be here. Barry?”

“Oh… um… he is in our room last I checked.”

“Go get him, he needs to know this.”

Barry winced, he didn’t feel ready to talk to him just yet, but he also knew this was no time for petty fights. Before he could get up, Caitlin stood first.

“I will get him! Barry is feeling a bit under the weather.” She gave him a knowing smile and quickly walked out of the room.

Wells started giving Oliver instructions on how they were going to have to protect Len and keep him out of Darhk’s hands.

“Len’s power is too great and we would have a hard time fighting him if he gets a hold of him.”

“I can handle Len’s power,” Mick joined in.

“I know, but you don’t want Darhk pushing and draining Len’s power faster as he fights with you. The best thing we can do is keep Len safe. We have one day to prepare something.”

“He won’t like being treated like a baby you know.”

“Well, he won’t have a choice Mick.”

Barry nerves were starting to rise. How did this morning go from bad to worse? He couldn’t imagine Darhk getting a hold of Len… of Len being in danger. But he was strong, and Barry knew he wouldn’t let some magician sneak up on him that easily. He had survived the wastelands after all, Len could take care of himself if he had to, and with the help of everyone else, he would be fine.

Barry looked up and saw Mick giving him a look, “everything ok with you two?”

“Yeah…” Barry answered, not really wanting to talk about his morning just yet.

“Look Kid, we need Len focused, if something is up, I need to know.”

Before Barry could answer, Caitlin walked back into the room, looking a bit worried. “So… he wasn’t there, and wherever he is, he is in dragon form, his clothes were left in the room.”

“Great,” Wells said sarcastically, “that should make him much easier to find. Mick, think you can find…”

Before Wells could finish, a loud thunder was heard and the ground shook. Everyone stood still, looking at one another in confusion. Another loud rumble was heard, louder this time, shacking the entire Temple.

“What the fuck is that!?” Mick growled.

He and Oliver ran out of the library, followed by everyone else. They exited the Temple through the main door and ran to where the stairs began. From there they could see the small town area below. They watched at lighting struck down on the homes, catching some on fire. The main gate was completely destroyed and in the middle of town was a large black dragon strutting through with a man on his back.

“Is that Darhk?” Cisco yelled over another strike.

Oliver shook his head, staring at the two intruders, “no… that’s Thawne and Zoom.”

“They beat Darhk here?” Barry was so confused, they had one more day!

“Maybe he is really stupid and got lost,” Cisco tried to joke.

“How rude.” The entire group turned and Barry watched as a tall man in a black long coat walked out of the Temple’s main entrance. He tugged on his sleeve casually, and smiled at the crew. His eyes were pale blue and it sent a shiver down Barry’s spine. There wasn’t any sort of emotion behind those eyes.

“Darhk!” Oliver growled, “you have some nerve showing your face like this.”

Oliver lunged forward, going in for an attack. Darhk rose his hand and sent out a blast towards him. The dragon barely managed to dodge the attack. The beam continued onto the group that stood right behind Oliver. Wells was at the end, and he quickly threw himself to the side. Lisa, still on Cisco’s shoulder, used her power to let the blast go right through them. Mick quickly grabbed both Caitlin and Barry and got them out of the way.

Barry stumbled a bit before finally being able to stand straight. He saw everyone was gaping at Oliver. The dragon had moved fast enough to miss the blast, but his hand skimmed it a bit. Barry’s eyes widened when he realized what everyone was staring at.

Oliver’s hand was now covered in ice.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since you guys loved the cliffhanger from the last one, I figured I would do another one! JK, please don't kill me!
> 
> Next chapter there is going to be a lot of stuff happening... so good luck to me because I suck at descriptions (if you haven't noticed I tend to avoid it...) But I will try my hardest. 
> 
> Just a quick warning though, on the 21st I will be starting some classes, so my writing might take a toll... I will try to keep the one week updates as much as possible thought. 
> 
> THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!! Please leave comments... I live for comments!!!


	8. Choice Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle begins and Len's life in on the line, how the hell is Barry going to save him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you I would post soon... 
> 
> PS, it's never described, but Zoom's size is about the side of a house I guess... pretty large, but not gigantic... lol

 

 

Barry’s whole body went numb. Darhk already had Len! Now what!?

“That idiot! I tried to tell him to keep focused, but his head was in the clouds,” Mick gave Barry a look.

Another loud thunder struck and suddenly there the large black dragon was at the top of the stairs. The group ran to one side, trying to put some distance from the beast and his rider.

“There you are coward, ready to die?” Thawne gritted. Zoom gave a low chuckle.

“Are you?” Darhk calmly stated.

The dragon rushed the man, wanting nothing more than to sink his teeth into the magician. Darhk used his magic to evade the attack. Disappearing and reappearing to the side, blasting the dragon with ice. The dragon quickly moved out of the way, some of the ice hitting his leg, making him growl loudly.

“Learn a new trick I see,” Zoom’s voice boomed.

“Indeed, now who should I freeze first? You, or that pathetic human you call a mate.”

Zoom roared as he once again began chasing the magician. The Temple started being torn apart as the dragon’s tail swung around, tearing down the walls, and Darhk blasted ice in every direction, trying to catch zoom.

The group watched in horror as their home was destroyed. Keepers ran from any exit they could find before they were crushed under the fight.

“We have to do something!” Barry yelled, bringing everyone back to reality.

“We got more visitors too,” Mick pointed to the ruined gate. Thawne had managed to bring his small army of thieves through as well. They started attacking the Keepers in town. The ones that could fight started trying to protect the women and children who were escaping.

“Ok!” Wells started, “Oliver, Mick, go take care of them, it will be a lot faster if it’s the two of you. Lisa!” He turned to the small dragon on Cisco’s shoulder, “I need your power to get Keepers that are still in the Temple out.”

“No! I’m not leaving Cisco…”

“NOW IT’S NOT THE TIME!” He yelled, making her jerk back.

“Liz, I will be fine, promise.” Cisco whispered, she pouted at both men before finally nodding.

“You three,” Wells turned to Cisco, Barry and Caitlin, “you need to find Len! Every time Darhk attacks, he is draining Len more! And for the looks of it, he is blasting full force!”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that? Barry’s bond isn’t strong enough to find Len!”

_It’s not that it wasn’t strong enough… it was nonexistent._

“Cisco, remember what you read. What did Darhk have to do for the spell to work?”

Cisco thought for a moment, “the dragon would be left vulnerable, and if anything happened to him, the spell would be broken, so he would have to keep him safe and hide him, but he couldn’t go too far or else he would not be able to connect to his power.”

“Exactly! And from the way he is happily letting Zoom stomp around our Temple it’s safe to assume Len isn’t there! Here,” Wells shoved the book he had pulled out in the meeting, “take this, do what we planned.”

“Ok!” He gave him a determined look.

Barry turned and saw Mick giving Caitlin a soft kiss, “you stay out of danger, got it?” Caitlin nodded with a small smile. Mick turned to Barry, “I’m counting on you to use your bond to get your mate out of this.”

Barry stared at Mick for a moment before inhaling a shaky breath, “Mick, Len and I aren’t…”

“I know!”

“What?”

Mick walked up to him, his large hand gripping Barry by the shoulder, bringing him close. “I know you are not bonded, the idiot told me, and trust me, I was pissed. But I’m telling you right now, trust your instincts. There is a lot more to bonding than what you know, do you understand me?”

Barry nodded. He could do this, he would get Len back, he had to!

Mick smiled, “also, keep my treasure here safe. If anything happens to her, Len’s mate or not, I’m tearing your head off.”

Barry gulped, “Oh… no pressure!” He said sarcastically.

Mick gave one last nod at Caitlin and took off towards the town with Oliver. Lisa morphed to her actual size, letting Wells get on top.

“Don’t get used to this Wells, there is only one man I like riding me,” she gave Cisco a devilish smirk as he blushed. She flew into the Temple, using her power to let both her and Well’s go through the crushed walls with ease.

Barry turned to Cisco, “so… where do we start?”

“Ok, Len has to be close by, and wherever he is, his power is going to be seeping a bit out, so there would be ice everywhere, so Darhk wouldn’t have just left him anywhere for us to find.”

“The only buildings around here are around the Temple, too close to be considered safe…”

“I know Cait! Umm…”

Barry tried to think, where would he hide something that needed to be close, but not out in the open around here. “Do you guys have a cave, or something underground?”

“CAVE!” Cisco jumped, “there is a small cave past the woods. The distance wouldn’t be too far, and it would hide the ice! We have to give it a try, come on!”

Cisco started running towards the garden, avoiding all the rushing dragons and Keepers that were escaping the battle that was continuing. They reached the woods, glad to be finally getting away from the fight, and picked up the pace. Barry started recognizing the trail they were taking, before he knew it, they had reached the large waterfall that Len had taken him to.

Barry stopped immediately, looking around. It was only now that everything started catching up to him, that he could possibly loose Len. His eyes started to water and his body trembled. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to lose him. The thought of never seeing him, hearing him, touching him was heartbreaking. It wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He said he would take him on adventures, that they would be together forever, that they were going to be partners… mates. Barry didn’t know what he would do if Len…

“Barry!!”

Barry came out of his thoughts. Cisco and Caitlin where at the end of the pool where the water drained out into the creek, it was the only area small enough for them to cross to the other side without swimming.

“Come on! We can’t waste time!” Cisco yelled, crossing the creek.

Barry took one last look at the waterfall, focusing his thoughts on saving Len, and turned to continue towards the cave. He took one step away when he felt something in his chest. It was a sense of being pulled back. Barry turned, confused, and looked behind him, seeing nothing but the waterfall. He went to move again, but he felt it once more, the pull.

_“Trust your instincts…”_

Barry started walking towards the waterfall, feeling the pull get slightly stronger as he got closer. Cisco kept yelling at him, but Barry didn’t care to listen. He reached the water and started trying to look behind it, but the splashing was too much to be able to see anything. He started climbing the rocks, working his way towards the center of the waterfall. He tightened his grip on the slippery rocks as the water started crashing on his head and shoulders. He closed his eyes and continued on, blindly reaching for the next rock, getting closer to whatever was pulling him.

Cisco and Caitlin ran to the side, asking what he was doing, but he still didn’t answer. He kept pushing on, feeling that pull getting stronger. Barry reached out for the next rock, but he realized too late there was nothing. He fell forward, landing on his side at the entrance of a small cave.

“Guys! There’s a cave here!” He slowly stood up, feeling a rush of cold coming from inside the cave.

He turned towards the water again, helping Caitlin who was slowly making her way in, followed by Cisco. They wringed their clothes as much as they could and started walking into the cave. It started getting darker, losing the bit of light from outside, until it was almost pitch black. Luckily, a small light started coming into view in front of them. Barry started picking up the pace as he was able to see more clearly, running towards the light. For a second, Barry thought this was a mistake and they were about to be outside again, but they finally reached then end and saw a large cavern. The entire room was covered in a thin layer of ice and it was brightly lit in a blueish glow coming from the center. Barry walked further in, feeling a chill run through his body. In the center, there was a large circle drawn on the floor, scripture all around it. Floating above the writing was Len’s dragon body, unconscious.

Barry started rushing towards him, but Cisco grabbed his arm quickly.

“Wait! Wells told me to separate the link first, just to be safe.”

Barry nodded and watched as Cisco put the now soaking book down and turned to the page he needed. He pulled out chalk and started writing his own scripture around Darhk’s. As Cisco finished, the glow that was coming off Len slowly dimmed down until the chill in the air stopped.

“What did you do?” Caitlin asked.

“I blocked the spell. Darhk now can’t use Len’s power.”

“Why is he still floating then?”

“Well Barry, the spell is blocked, not broken. But now comes the easy part, you just grab him.”

“I just grab him? That’s it?”

“Yeah, his power still isn’t contained, but you are immune, so you don’t have to worry about being hurt.”

Barry and Caitlin gave each other a panicked look.

“Cisco, what if Barry isn’t bonded…?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Len and I aren’t bonded, he lied to me…” Barry winced, “that’s why Len wasn’t at the meeting… we had just fought…”

“WHAT!!!? People, these are things I need to know beforehand!!”

“Well we didn’t think your whole plan counted on me being bonded with Len!”

“Shit!” Cisco dropped to his knees, scrolling through the book, trying to find some way to actually break the spell.

“Umm… guys?” They both turned to Caitlin, “You said you disconnected the bond with Darhk, and he no longer has Len’s power, right?”

“Yeah…?” Cisco questioned.

Barry caught on before Caitlin could speak, “so he is probably going to come here to see why!”

Cisco’s eyes widened as he started searching again. Barry and Caitlin both started panicking.

“Come on Cisco, read faster!” Barry yelled.

“Please, Cisco, hurry!!!” Caitlin pleaded.

“Dud! Yelling at me to read faster doesn’t help! That is not how reading works!”

“Find something!” Barry wasn’t sure what they would do if Darhk showed up.

“I really wish Mick was here right now,” Caitlin whined.

Barry started pacing the floor, looking at Len’s levitating body, wanting nothing more than to just reach in and grab him. He tried to test it, reaching out slowly towards him, but his hand instantly started feeling numb from all the cold before it was anywhere close to him.

“Cisco!?”

“Barry! The reason why Wells and I came up with what we had was because it was near impossible to break the spell. I’m trying to find something, but honestly, I don’t know if there is anything!”

Barry felt useless, he wanted to do something, he needed to do something! Cisco kept searching for anything that might help as Barry continued staring at Len. He felt Caitlin crash into his back, making him turn.

“Cait?”

She was backing away in fear as she stared at the entrance. Barry looked up, eyes widening, unable to speak. His leg kicked Cisco who was still on the ground.

“Dud, what the fuuu…” Cisco looked up, realizing they had a guest.

“I despise meddlers,” Darhk gritted.

Barry quickly pulled Caitlin behind him. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he wasn’t going to let anything happen to his friends, or _mate_.

 

~*~

 

Mick grabbed another thief by the head, using his heat to turn him instantly into ash.

“This is too easy.” He grinned over at Oliver who threw spikes out of his hands to take down two others.

Most of the army had already been taken care of by some of the smaller dragons. The thieves completely underestimated how angry destroying their Temple would make them.

“True, but we are just cleaning up. Our biggest problem is up there!”

Mick looked up at the Temple that was now in ruins. He kept seeing ice being blasted and thunder continued to roar.

Another thief charged towards Mick, a knife in his hand. Mick chuckled as he quickly grabbed him by the hand and flipped him. The thief crashed hard onto the ground, letting go of the knife. Mick punched him in the head, knocking him out instantly.

He stood back up and that’s when he felt it, panic. He looked back up towards the Temple, worry coming over his face.

“What is it?” Oliver walked up.

“Something is wrong, my mate is scared.”

“It can’t be anything too bad, Darhk, Thawne and Zoom are right up there.”

Mick kept glaring towards the Temple and realized there was only lightning now. He waited longer, hoping that maybe Darhk was attacking in a different way, but then he heard Zoom’s voice.

“DARHK! WHERE DID YOU GO COWARD!”

Mick growled, he knew his mate was in trouble now.

“I have to find her!”

“Come on!” Oliver started towards the Temple.

They reached the top and found Zoom and Thawne stomping around, searching for Darhk.

“I got them, you go find Caitlin.”

Mick nodded as he watched Oliver take off to engage Zoom and Thawne.

“LISA!” Mick yelled. A few seconds later, a gold dragon popped her head out of the rubble. He felt another rush of fear go through him, stronger than he had ever felt, knocking the wind out of him, “I need you to tell me where Cisco is, _NOW_!”

 

~*~

 

Darhk walked further into the cavern, not looking at all threatened.

“You humans are always so quick to get yourselves into danger for these… animals,” he said disgustingly.

“They are not just tools you can play with!” Barry was furious.

“Are you going to stop me?” He laughed. “Enough of this, out of my way.” Darhk raised his hand, using his magic to take hold of the three of them and throw them against the wall. Barry quickly grabbed onto Caitlin, twisting his body to make sure he hit the wall first. “I love how vulnerable you humans are to my magic.”

Caitlin sat up, turning and making sure Barry was ok. His back was killing him, but at least she was ok, he didn’t need Mick to rip his head off after this. They both stood and looked to the side and saw Cisco was now laying unconscious on the ground. They both ran to his side, Caitlin checking his head for any bleeding.

Barry watched as Darhk strolled up the center of the cavern. He looked at the scripture Cisco had written, chuckling, “Pathetic.” His foot rubbed some of the chalk off and the room was lit brightly once more as Darhk was connected to Len’s power again. His raised his hand, ice starting to cover it, and turned towards Barry. “I guess I should actually thank you human. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get someone as strong as Len here under my spell. I even arrived a few days early to come up with a plan, but it seems all I needed to do was to wait.” He grinned and Barry felt his stomach turn, “you left him so heartbroken he didn’t even notice when I came up right behind him.”

_Shit, this was his fault!?_

Darhk looked at Len’s suspended body, “I wish he was conscious to witness this… to watch me kill his Intended with his own power… how tragic.”

He raised his hand towards him, and before Barry could do anything, he blasted ice towards the group. Barry braced himself, closing his eyes and getting ready to feel the cold, but it never came.

Instead, Barry felt heat.

He opened his eyes and saw Mick’s large form standing in front of him, using his fire to keep the ice at bay.

“You dare attack my mate!” he growled, pushing his fire towards the magician.

“I’m getting tired of these interruptions!” Darhk yelled.

 

~*~

 

Oliver whistled as loud as he could to get the mated couple’s attention. They both turned, glaring at him as he walked up closer.

“Alright, that’s enough, time for you two to head back home!”

“And if we refuse?” Thawne smiled.

“Then you die.”

Both dragon and rider laughed.

“You think you can take me on?” Zoom barked.

Oliver shrugged and quickly ducked as Zoom snapped at him. Oliver attacked back with is poisonous spikes, missing the dragon completely as it used its speed to dodge them. Zoom stepped to one side, letting Thawne down.

“Stay here, I will take care of him myself.”

Oliver quickly started using the ruins of the Temple to dodge Zoom as he started coming after him. He continued to shoot his spikes at him, trying to get one to land, knowing the poison was made to kill a dragon. His problem was that no matter how fast he shot, how well he hid, the Zoom’s power always kept him one step ahead.

Oliver ducked behind a bolder, trying to come up with some sort of plan before Zoom caught him, he wasn’t going to be able to outrun him for long. He heard the dragon moving around, searching for him. He just needed to get him distracted for one second, or at least be slow enough for one of his spikes to land. He looked over the boulder and saw across the way was Thawne standing, waiting for the fight to finish.

“Come out! Or are you too scared to face me?”

“Don’t forget Zoom,” Oliver yelled as he jumped out from behind the boulder, “I’m not just fighting you.” He shot his spike across the way towards Thawne. Zoom was quick to move and grabbed him before it hit. Oliver growled, frustrated, but then realized he now had pissed off the dragon.

“You little shit, I will kill you!”

Zoom charged towards him, Oliver could have dodged him, he could have easily jumped to the side, but this was his opportunity. Zoom’s jaws opened wide, coming in for the kill and Oliver roared, quickly raising his hand and shooting him. He might be about to die, but he was taking this asshole with him. Oliver watched his spikes finally hit their mark and closed his eyes, ready for death.

Suddenly, he was pulled into the ground below.  

He opened his eyes and realized he was now standing a few feet away from where he had just been. He turned and saw Lisa smirking at him.

“Couldn’t let you die like that now, could I?”

“Thanks Lisa, I owe you.”

They both turned their gazes towards Zoom who was on the ground, his body twitching as he struggled to breath, the poison taking it’s effect. Oliver looked to where Thawne had been, but he was gone.

“Damn it.”

 

~*~

 

Mick and Darhk continued fighting around the cavern. Mick began charging at Darhk, his ice blast having no effect against him since he could continue blocking them with his fire. He kept trying to get in close, but Darkh used his magic to always keep his distance, making sure the dragon never got a hold of him. The room started trembling as they continued their battle.

Barry turned and helped Caitlin sit Cisco up who was still out.

“We have to do something Barry. Darhk was fighting Zoom before this and now with Mick, and he keeps blasting at full power, who knows how much more Len will be able to take?”

“I know!”

Barry turned, watching the two men fight around Len’s levitating body. The only one that could have broken the spell was now passed out. Neither he nor Caitlin could perform any spell. If he could just get Len out of that damn ring everything would be fine. He was really regretting not having been bonded with him right now.

Darhk continued to blast Mick with all his might, trying to overpower the dragon’s fire. Mick wasn’t sure if he should just keep protecting himself or attack the magician harder, either way it was draining Len. The light in the room suddenly flickered, making everyone stand still.

Darhk laughed, “looks like someone’s power is about to reach its limit. What are you going to do now dragon?”

“He dies, so do you!” He growled.

“Well, at least I get the joy of taking your friend to the afterlife with me.”

Darhk started blasting Mick once more, hitting him with as much power as he could. The light in the room once more started flickering. Barry began to panic. Len was dying and he was just standing there. There was no way in hell he wasn’t going to try something… even if it was stupid.

Barry gave himself a determined nod and started running towards Len. He wasn’t sure if this was going to work, but he was getting Len out of there one way or another.

_You are not leaving me you stupid jerk!_

Caitlin yelled at him to stop, knowing he was probably going to end up killing himself. This caught Darhk’s attention. He tried to move to attack Barry, but Mick quickly blasted him with his fire, making it as strong as he could to keep the magician at bay. Darhk used both hands, blasting ice, to keep himself from being burned alive. Len’s light started dimming completely as the last bit of his power was used by Darhk, time quickly running out.

Barry’s mind went into slow motion as he pushed every muscle in his body to run faster. All other noise was drowned out by his own heavy breathing. His mind focused on one thought, _Len_.

He finally reached the rim of the circle and Barry jumped with all his might as he watched the light slowly go off. His arms reached out and grabbed Len, bringing him close to his chest. He maneuvered his body and hit the ground hard on his back.

_I got you Lenny, I got you…_

There was only a second of joy before Barry’s body turned on him. He shrieked as sharp pain hit every part of his body, his arms quickly letting go of Len. He rolled around in the ground, trying to curl himself into a ball as his body convulsed from the pain of the absolute cold. He stopped being able scream, only shaking and he continued to roll around on the ground. He turned and was barely able to make out Len’s face in the dark, before his eyes rolled back and he passed out from the pain.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cheesy Narrator Voice*   
> Was Barry on time to save Len? Will Barry be ok? What happened to Thawne? Find out in the next chapter of... Dragon Temple!
> 
> ... don't kill me please... just know I will be posting this weekend again... so it won't be long for the next part!
> 
> THANK YOU FOR READING!!


	9. Sleeping Beauty?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry finally wakes up... too bad Len can't...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter is a bit short compared to my others... sorry! <:)

 

 

Barry opened his eyes, and found himself in a brightly lit room. He was laying on his side, in a large bed, with a large window beside him where all the light was coming from. He went to move but immediately regretted it, his whole body ached. He looked down and saw bandages covering his chest, the bit of skin that peeked through was purple, almost black. He looked at his arms and found the same bruising on them in certain areas. He realized it had been everywhere that his skin had made contact with Len.

_Len!!_

He turned on his back, getting ready to try to sit up, but found Len on the bed with him. Barry stared at him intently until he registered he was breathing. Barry smiled, feeling relieved.

_He’s alive!_

He pushed his body to face him, wincing at the pain but not caring. He scooted his body closer, hand reaching out to touch him lightly.

“Len,” he shook him. “Lenny…” He shook him again, but he didn’t wake up, his body didn’t move, his eyes didn’t twitch, nothing… “Lenny!” Barry started shacking harder, his voice getting louder. He couldn’t understand why he wasn’t waking up. “Len…”

“Barry,” he finally looked up from Len and saw Caitlin was standing next to the bed.

“Caitlin, he won’t wake up!” He started panicking.

“I know…” The look she gave told him everything he needed to know… something was wrong.

“Was I too late?” Barry started to fight back tears.

“No, no, no…” Caitlin walked closer, sitting on the edge of the bed, on the other side of Len. “It’s complicated.”

“What do you mean!?”

“From what Wells explained, Len’s power got so low, that the only thing he can do is sleep. There is a chance that his power will slowly start to grow again and he will wake up… but, if it got too low, he won’t be strong enough to regenerate his power, and he will remain asleep… forever.”

“I was too late…” Barry swallowed as tears finally broke free.

“No Barry, listen. The only reason why you are alive is because Len’s power got so low. Basically, if you would have jumped a second later, Len would have died. But a second sooner, _you_ would have died. You were extremely lucky. With Len… we just have to wait and see.”

Barry started crying as he pulled Len’s body close. “He _is_ going to wake up, he has to… he has to…”

Caitlin gave him an encouraging smile, but there was a bit of doubt that he could see. He buried his face against Len’s, holding him tight.

_He will wake up… he will…_

 

~*~

 

Caitlin didn’t know what to do.

Three weeks had passed and nothing had changed. Len was still completely asleep and Barry wouldn’t leave his side. He was barely eating, only nibbling on the food she brought him, and only sleeping when exhaustion overtook him.

She still couldn’t believe Barry had done that. She had been terrified when she saw him start running. She knew Len’s power would have killed him, she still marveled at how lucky he had been to survive.

When he had grabbed Len, the blue light had gone off and the new source became Mick’s fire as it blazed full force and finally killed Darhk who no longer had Len’s power to protect him. Len had been right, magician’s power alone can’t compare to a dragons. They all made it out ok… well sort of.

The Temple had been wrecked, but luckily their home had survived. The two bonded couples had their own tiny homes right outside the Temple. Wells knew that it would have been trouble to try to keep them in the dormitories, being so close to other humans, so he had them move to their own private areas. It wasn’t anything large. Just a small building with a living space at the front, a small hallway with a kitchen, and then the door that lead to their bedroom. Unfortunately, Lisa’s and Cisco’s had been destroyed, so they were camping out like the rest of the Keepers who were currently rebuilding the Temple.

Mick and Caitlin happily let Barry and Len take their room. They made their own makeshift bed on the floor in the living area up front. That is where she was now, and as she had been for the past few weeks, unable to sleep.

It was probably passed midnight she guessed. She sat up, looking at Mick sleeping next to her, and decided to get up and go check on Barry.

She slowly walked, passing the small kitchen while being quiet as possible in case Barry was asleep, and finally reached the bedroom door. It was always left open just in case Barry needed her, this way he didn’t have to yell too much. As she walked closer to the door she heard a voice. For a second she got excited, thinking maybe Len was awake, but very quickly she realized it was just Barry’s voice. She stood by the entranced, not making any sound, just listening to be sure everything was ok.

“Please wake up,” he whispered.

Caitlin sucked in a breath. She couldn’t imagine what he was going though. She knew the pain of losing a loved one, and even still, she could not imagine losing Mick, it would be too much.

“Please… I know you like sleeping in, but this is getting ridiculous,” he chuckled for a short minute before he started crying again. “Come on, I will be your mate, you just have to wake up… please?” His voice cracked, “I miss you, you stupid jerk… you said we would be together…”

Caitlin moved away from the door, not wanting to intrude more than she already had. She slowly walked back to the front room, her own eyes starting to water.  She saw Mick was now sitting up on the bed, waiting for her.

“Sorry… didn’t mean to wake you.”

He smiled up at her and raised his hand, reaching for her. She took it and sat on his lap as his hand came up and started brushing her hair away from her face.

“You need to sleep.”

“I know, I just… I don’t know what I would do if I was in their situation, if I didn’t have you around.” She leaned her head closer to his hand.

“You don’t need to worry so much, everything will be ok.”

“How do you know?”

“Because,” he pushed one loose strand of her hair behind her ear, “there is no force strong enough in this world or the next that would keep me from you.” He smiled at her, then nodded his head towards the bedroom, “and the asshole in there is even more hardheaded than I am.”

Caitlin huffed, “You think so?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, he won’t leave the Kid alone just yet. Plus, you know he loves being dramatic.” Caitlin giggled. “Time for you to sleep.”

He lowered her onto the bed, and brought the covers over them. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, kissing the top of her head. She buried her face in his chest and tried to calm her nerves. He was right, everything would be ok.

 

~*~

 

It had been a little over two months now. From what Barry understood, most of the Temple had been rebuilt. The town was still being worked on however, but the Keepers were working pretty fast to get everything back to normal. Barry was happy things were getting better, to hear that the Keepers were getting their homes back and life was returning to normal, but…

Len was sleeping peacefully as usual. Barry kept making sure he was comfortable at least, with a blanket on him to keep him warm. He laid on his side, his hand idly playing with the pendant that somehow still was around Len’s neck.  

Barry was exhausted.

He didn’t want to sleep just in case he moved or something that told him he was getting better. He refused to accept that this was how it would end. Despite how long it had been, Barry wasn’t giving up. He just needed more time, that’s all. He would wait…

Suddenly, Len’s arm twitched, bringing Barry out of his thoughts.

Barry paused his movements, trying to figure out if it had just been his mind playing tricks on him. He glared intently at Len’s arm until it happened again.

“Len…?” he whispered, his voice raspy from having been crying.

Barry almost jumped as Len answered with a hum, his eyes slowly fluttered as they opened. He lifted his head, eyes narrowing at the bright light as he took in his surroundings. He finally turned, seeing Barry next to him, and instantly started panicking. He reached out for Barry, grabbing his shirt and getting close.

“Barry, I’m sorry! Please don’t be mad at me, I swear I will make it up to you. Please don’t be mad.”

Barry sat there confused, not sure what the hell Len was talking about, “Len, whaa…”

“I swear to you I won’t lie to you ever again, I promise! Please don’t leave me,” he kept holding onto Barry as if his life depended on it.

Realization finally hit Barry, “shhh, Len! I’m not mad,” he tried to calm him and hugged him tightly. “I forgive you, it’s ok. I don’t care that you lied to me anymore. I’m just glad you are ok.” Barry started laughing. At this point, he honestly didn’t care about the whole bonding lie, he was just so relieved he was ok.  

“Really?”

“Yeah, you are awake, that’s all that matters.” Barry brightly smiled at him as Len gave him a confused look.

Caitlin ran into the room, screaming as she saw Len moving around. Mick rushed in after her, thinking something was wrong. He rolled his eyes and started laughing. “Bout time your ass woke up, I want my bed back!” He joked.

Len looked at all three, “what are you guys talking about, why are you so happy I’m awake?”

“Len, do you not remember what happened? Darhk got you,” Barry asked.

“No… I remember we fought, and then I went to the woods because I didn’t know what to do to make this right… and now I’m here.”

“Guess we will have to fill you in.” Mick shook his head as he proceeded to tell Len everything that had happened as Caitlin brought both Len and Barry food. Len was less than pleased to hear what Darhk had done to him, but even more so at one particular part.

“YOU DID WHAT!?” He growled towards Barry.

“I had to save you somehow!”

“You are not allowed to do something that stupid ever again! I forbit it!”

Barry simply laughed, “I wasn’t about to let my mate die right in front of me.”

“I don’t care…… what?” Len stared at him in complete shock, “did… did you just… call me your mate?”

Barry smiled and nodded, “I’m ready to bond with you Len.”

“Really?” Barry nodded once more and watched as Len shivered.

He jumped on Barry’s lap, rubbing his head around his chest, his claws grabbing his shirt once more, trying to get as close to him as possible.

“YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes… noooo…” Len stopped as he realized something. He started focusing, closing his eyes before he started growling in frustration. “Why would you do this to me!?” Barry looked at him confused.

Mick barked out a laugh, “you don’t have enough power to turn human yet, do you?”

“It’s not funny!!” Len gritted. He sat there for a moment, trying to come up with a solution, before looking up at Barry, “how kinky are you willing to be?”

“I’m not having sex with you as a dragon,” Barry deadpanned, making Len pout.

“Guess you are just going to have to be patient,” Mick grinned.

Len glared at Barry, “you better not change your mind in the meantime.”

All Barry could do was shake his head and laugh. Len was back and he couldn’t be happier.

Since the dorm rooms were already finished, Len insisted on them going back to their room, saying he didn’t really care to be laying all over Mick’s bed. He tried to get up himself, but his body wasn’t strong enough to walk around just yet. Mick grabbed him and started carrying like a child, making Len growl for a moment before grasping this was the only way he was getting to his room.

Barry watched as Mick walked out, Len’s tail dragging the floor, and felt slightly insulted by this. Barry quickly ran up behind him, picking his tail with his arms, and followed closely as they walked to the room. Len turned and looked at Barry over Mick’s shoulder, a large grin coming on his face.

“One word and I drop it!” Barry narrowed his eyes.

Len maneuvered his body until he could lower his head on Mick’s shoulder, the tip of his tail wrapping round Barry’s arm, and he continued to watch him the entire way with a small satisfied smile.

 

The next couple of weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Wells advised Len that the less he moved and used his powers, he faster they would come back, so he did nothing but lay in bed the entire time. Barry made sure to take care of all his needs, much to Len’s delight. In the end, he mainly just wanted Barry in the room with him, even complaining the very few times Barry had to leave to get food or anything.

This is why Barry should have been suspicious when Len turned to him one night, making a request.

“Wine?... You want wine?”

“Yes, go get some and two glasses, you are drinking with me,” he said defiantly.

Barry just shrugged and walked out of the room, heading to the kitchen. Everyone had already gone to bed at this point, so it was a quiet walk. He found a small jug of wine and grabbed two cups and made his way back. He was quickly opening his bedroom door and strolling back in, when he saw Len was no longer on the bed. Before he could move, the door behind him closed, making Barry jump. He turned and standing there was Len… in human form. He was shirtless, but he had at least put on his pants, much to Barry’s relief.

“Len…” Barry smiled as he swallowed. In his dragon form, Len was beautiful, but his human form… damn he had missed seeing him like this.

Len smirked, loving the fact that he had this effect on Barry, and walked up to him, taking the jug and cups.

“You tricked me! Did you even want wine?” Barry crossed his arms.

Len walked up to Barry’s newly made desk, and set the cups down, pouring some wine on both.

“Yes I did Barry, you see,” he turned and offered one cup to Barry, “we are celebrating.”

Barry took the cup cautiously, looking up at Len. “Oh… and what are we celebrating?”

Len smirked as he walked closer, his free hand wrapping around Barry’s waist, bringing him close. “Tonight Barry, you become my mate.” He clinked their cups.

Barry bit his lip, trying to hide the smile that kept creeping on his face until he couldn’t hold back any longer. He finally let himself smile brightly and nodded.

“Ok…” he whispered. He took a sip of wine as he felt Len’s entire body shiver.

Barry no longer felt any hesitation, he was ready to be Len’s mate.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have decided that I might pause on this story here so I can concentrate on school, so it will be about a year. It's not like I left it with anything important happening at all, you guys won't care too much... right?
> 
> KIDDING! Please don't hunt me down! So next chapter should be interesting to write. No worries, there won't be any interruptions, no Cisco knocking on the door, nothing, they will be bonding, so prepare for some smut. Hope I can make it 'waiting for 9 chapters' worthy. It will probably be next weekend when I update. 
> 
> THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT! Please, please leave comments, even if they are just to say hi! I love talking to people here! ;)


	10. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry finally gives himself to Len

 

 

Len gave him a chaste kiss before pulling away, taking both their cups and setting them down on the desk. Barry felt nervous, his hands started sweating, his breath picking up slightly. Len turned and walked back, giving him a concerned look before smiling.

“Barry,” his hands cupped his face, “we don’t have to do this now. Despite what I say and how I act, I will wait if that is what _you_ want. I don’t want to feel like I’m forcing you.”

“No, no!” he grabbed Len by the waist and pulled him closer. “It’s not that I don’t want to, or I’m not sure… its just…” Barry swallowed, blushing as he realized what he was about to say. “I just… never… have done… this…?” He winced.

Len chuckled, putting their foreheads together, “well that is great news for me. I get to be the only person that gets to taste you.” Barry’s face turned crimson. “No need to be nervous my mate, I will take care of everything.” Len whispered before pulling Barry in for a deep kiss.

He let himself melt into the kiss, Len pushing his tongue and taking over every part of his mouth. Barry moaned, tightening his hold on Len’s waist. He started being pulled towards the bed while never breaking from the kiss until he felt the bed. Len pulled back and grabbed the hem of Barry’s shirt, slowly lifting it and tossing it on the floor. He winked at Barry as he pushed him to sit on the bed. He kneeled down in front of him and started taking off his boots.

“Is this familiar?”

Barry laughed, “yeah… I remember being very confused that a white dragon was preparing me for bed.”

“I remember being excited to be this close to you, to finally touch you,” he smiled to himself as he put the boots to the side.

He turned back to Barry, his arms wrapping around his waist as he leaned in, kissing him on his chest. He looked up at him and smiled. Barry couldn’t help but tilt down and peck his nose as they stared at one another.

“If you feel unsure at any moment…”

“Len,” Barry beamed, “I want this, I know this without a doubt, I promise.”

Len nodded, finally raising up and bringing their lips together. He pushed Barry back and adjusted him further on the bed until he was laying fully on top of him. Len’s hands took hold of his, bringing them above their heads. He began to kiss his neck, sucking and marking him before licking all the way up to his earlobe.  

“I’m going to do everything in my power to make you happy,” he brushed his lips across Barry’s cheek. “Anything you want, crave, yearn for,” he gazed down at Barry, “anything your heart desires, I will give to you, my mate,” He kissed his forehead, “my treasure,” he kissed his nose, “my love.” He pressed their lips together, his tongue pushing inside.

Barry felt helpless, but he was loving every second of it. His blood started rushing south, excitement increasing. Len let go of his hands and started caressing his body softly, his fingers tickling Barry’s sides. Barry squirmed and smiled into the kiss.

“Ticklish?” Len smirked. Barry scrunched up his nose, not wanting to answer, but giggled.

Len dipped down and once again attacked his neck, slowly moving further down, passing his collarbone until he reached Barry’s nipple. He licked it and blew cool air on it, causing Barry to gasp. He quickly took it into his hot mouth and sucked hard.

“Fuck,” Barry groaned.

Len made his way across his chest to do the same to the other nipple. Barry couldn’t stop his hips from pushing up, wanting to feel some relief. His pants now felt too tight as his cock strained against them.

He reached down and took hold of Len’s head and pulled him up into a kiss. Len happily followed. He gave Barry a mischievous smile as his fingers skimmed the top of his pants, stopping right where the head of his cock was trying to peek through. He pressed a finger right on it, rubbing it against the fabric of Barry’s underwear where it was still trapped.

Barry’s mouth went slack as he looked up at Len, “Lenny…” He wanted more, so much more.

Len’s smile left his face as he just gaped at him. “My beautiful treasure,” he leaned in close and kissed him.

Barry sensed as his hand moved and started unbuttoning his pants, finally relieving some of the pressure. Len’s hand dipped in and palmed him over his underwear. Barry thrusted his hips up and moaned louder, relishing the feeling. Len continued massaging him, enjoying the noises that he was getting out of him.

Barry felt like he could cum just like this, just have Len keep palming him, but suddenly Len pulled his hand away and started lifting up, causing Barry to actually growl.

Len chuckled as he sat back on his knees, looking down at Barry’s pouting face.

“Never imagined a growl being so cute,” he quickly bent down and gave him a kiss.

Barry was about to start whining, but Len’s hand hooked on his pants and started pulling the off, underwear and all. Barry lifted his hips as he continued to kiss Len, now happy to finally be out of the constricting things. They kissed until the last moment when Len separated and pulled them off completely.

Len gazed down at him, his eyes taking in every inch of Barry’s body. Barry couldn’t help but blush. He bumped his knee against him, trying to get him to stop.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are Barry?”

“I told you before, I’m not beautiful.”

“Yes and like I said, after we bond tonight, you will know it’s true.”

Len kissed the side of Barry’s knee. He began to put open mouth kisses all the way down his thigh, making his way closer to Barry’s center. His hand gently came down and cupped his balls, causing Barry to inhale sharply. His fingers slowly moved and took hold of his shaft, tightening his grip.

Barry moaned as Len began to pump him. His face was now hovering over the tip, focusing on the small drop of cum that was starting to form on the head. Barry looked down just in time to watch him lean in lick it, humming as he tasted Barry for the first time. Barry mewled, lifting his hips up slightly to get Len to do it again. Len happily obliged and kissed the tip, his tongue dipping out and swirling around the head.

“Yes…” Barry threw his head back.

Len’s hands started rubbing his sides as he slowly took Barry in further into his mouth. He sucked harder, making Barry squirm and moan his name louder. His hands came down, nails rubbing against Len’s head and he bobbed up and down.

Barry couldn’t get enough of this feeling. Len’s mouth was so hot, but when he let out a breath, it was always cool.

One of Len’s hands came down and started cupping his balls again. Squeezing and he took Barry in all the way into his mouth. Barry bit his fist, trying not to cum at that moment. He panted as he heard a pop and Len sat up a bit. He rubbed his cheek against Barry’s thigh, smiling up at him as Barry continued to catch his breath.

Len licked his lips and sat up further, his hands guiding Barry to move and lay on his front. Barry wasn’t sure what to expect as he laid back down.

Len groped his cheeks before giving him a light smack. Barry turned his head and narrowed his eyes, making Len’s grin wider. He leaned down and kissed his lips before moving down to the back of his neck. He continued down his back, leaving small kisses, until he reached the beginning of Barry’s buttocks. He licked down the center and reached the small puckered flesh he was looking for.

Barry groaned, he never imagined anything feeling like this. Len’s tongue continued to play around, putting just the slightest pressure against it. Barry pushed his hips back, wanting to feel more. Len’s tongue finally breached the opening, entering Barry’s body.

“Len!” Barry moaned into the pillow, his hands gripping it tightly.

Len started dipping in and out, slowly stretching him out. His hand spread Barry’s cheeks further apart, delving in further. Barry spread his legs more and pushed his hips up, opening himself for him. Len pulled back and sucked on his own fingers, wetting them with spit. He pushed his index finger into him, probing him gently.

“More Lenny, please!” Barry begged.

Len continued to thrust his finger in and out as his tongue went back in, stretching him further. He continued until he was able to fit two fingers in, driving Barry mad.

He pushed his fingers in and out slowly, curving them slightly as he reached further into Barry. Len’s breath was against his lower back, kissing him from time to time and his hand kept moving. Len pulled his finger almost all the way out and spat on them before thrusting them back in. A third finger slowly started pushing its way in, stretching Barry to the max.

Barry panted, enthralled in this new feeling. He would never have imagined anything feeling like this. Len’s fingers continued probing him, getting in deeper and deeper and all Barry knew is that he wanted more.

Before he could even ask for it, Len pulled his fingers out and lifted up. Barry turned his head, wondering what he was doing. He saw Len get off the bed and unbutton his pants pulling them down.

Barry swallowed as he saw Len get completely naked. He was gorgeous, and he couldn’t help but feel intimidated by him. Len smiled at him as he got back on the bed, leaning forward to give Barry a deep kiss. He sat back again and gave himself a quick pump. He was large and Barry could see it was slightly wet from all the precum. Len spat on his hand again, rubbing it all around his member and leaned back down. He shifted them more to their side, his mouth against Barry’s ear.

Barry felt Len guide himself against his entrance. He started getting nervous, his breath coming in fast. Len shushed him, trying to calm him. He kissed him lightly on the back of his ear and he pushed forward. The tip of his head began to enter Barry’s body.

Barry moaned as Len’s cock pushed itself further in. Len continued until he finally bottomed out, pressed tightly against him. Len was struggling to control his breathing. His hands came around and wrapped themselves around Barry’s chest, holding him firmly. Barry put his hands on top, gripping him as they both stood still, connected together intimately.

Barry closed his eyes, feeling all of Len inside him. He shifted his hips slightly to feel Len more, and enjoyed the groan he got out of him.

“Again,” Len breathed behind his neck, sending a shiver down his spine. Barry bit his lip as he twisted his hips again. “Yes! Just like that.”

He began to push his own hips forward as Barry continued to push back. Barry moaned, leaning his head back and Len kissed his neck and shoulder, thrusting harder into him.

Barry tightened his grip on him, no longer able to move as Len began snapping his hips faster, burying himself as deep as he could. Len started growling in Barry’s ear, driving Barry crazy. He bit down on his shoulder, getting lost inside of Barry. He stopped, ramming himself and twisting his hips as he hissed.

Barry struggled to breath, he felt so close to coming, his cock weeping and begging to be touched. Len pulled himself out and Barry whimpered. He didn’t want Len to stop, he wanted to be relieved.

Len pushed him until he was on his back, facing him. He settled between his legs, panting as he gazed down at Barry with a smirk. He spat on his hand once more, pumping himself, and pushed back into Barry, now face to face. He dived down and kissed him roughly as he plunged himself hard. His fingers dug into Barry’s hips and stared at him. Barry struggled to keep his eyes open, his mouth hung slack as Len mercilessly thrusted into him.

“Len… I’m…” Barry couldn’t even finish his sentence, he was so close.

Len smirked, one of his hands going between them. He took hold of Barry’s cock and started pumping hard. Barry moaned and writhed under him. His legs wrapped around Len, pulling him in close as he felt his body start to tighten.

“Ready to be mine forever?” Len whispered as he continued driving into him.

“I’m already yours Len,” Barry tried to smile, but a moan came out instead as Len twisted his hips.

Len started thrusting faster, his grip tightening around Barry. They both closed their eyes as they reached their climax together, Barry’s body spasming around Len as he emptied himself inside of Barry.

Barry kept his eyes closed as he felt his orgasm come down. He was just starting to catch his breath when a rush of cold hit him. He sucked in air, but before the cold could be too much, it was replaced by a warm feeling surrounding his entire body.

Barry felt like he was floating, every nerve in his body was tingling. He smiled, it felt incredible, like nothing he could have ever imagined. It was so strange, but he felt safe and loved. The feeling suddenly swirled inside him, his stomach turned and he had to once again suck in a breath and opened his eyes.

Len’s eyes were now open, staring down at him. Barry gazed up at him, looking into his blue eyes and beautiful face. He smiled up at him and quickly those emotions inside him swirl once more, giving him butterflies in his stomach again. Barry’s hand came up and cupped his face.

“Is this… you?”

Len grinned, “yeah… what you are feeling now is me, what I feel, every time I’m around you Barry.”

Barry sighed, pulling Len close until their lips brushed against one another, “I can barely understand it, it’s so strong I can barely breathe.”

“It’s my love for you,” Barry felt that drop in his stomach again, “I tried to tell you Barry, we were meant to be.”

He kissed Barry, both of them trembling at the emotions going between them. Barry pulled Len in tightly, almost crying at how happy he felt, and knowing that half of those emotions weren’t even his.

Len smiled and started to shift and pull himself out. Barry quickly grabbed onto him, keeping him in place.

“Wait!” Len gave him a concerned look. Barry licked his lips, swallowing before he could speak. “It’s just that… I talked to Caitlin before, while you slept after Darhk. I asked her what this was like, and she explained the best she could, but she said the feeling went away when we separate. I don’t want this to stop.”

Len smiled down at him reassuringly, “do you trust me?”

Barry stared up at him for a moment before nodding. He felt Len slowly move his hips away, pulling out of him. Barry braced himself for this warm feeling to go away, for the swirling emotions to disappear, but nothing happened. There were still there as Len laid himself on his side and pulled Barry close to him. Barry gave him a questioningly look, had Caitlin lied?

“It goes away for most couples Barry, but not us,” he smiled, “our bond is strong, so we get to keep this connection unlike them, who have to build it back up.”

Barry laughed, happy that he wouldn’t lose this, “how did you know?”

“I just did,” he leaned in and kissed him.

Barry wrapped his hands around his shoulders, pressing himself against him. This was perfect, he was so happy right now, and to know that Len could feel it just made it better. They both started laughing, smiling at one another, until Len threw his head back and groaned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Time’s up…”

Before Barry could even ask what he meant, Len’s body started glowing brightly as he shifted back to his dragon form. Len tried to catch his breath as he laid his head on the pillow. Barry glared at him for a moment before laughing.

“You weren’t supposed to transform just yet, were you?”

Len grinned, “nope!”

Barry shook his head at him, “Len, why in the world…?”

“I didn’t want to wait. Now, I can rest easy knowing that you are mine.”

“Lenny!”

“I’ll be fine, just need to rest,” he said as he adjusted himself nearer to him. Len tucked himself into Barry’s chest, sighing, “mine!”

Barry chuckled and pulled Len closer, kissing his cheek, “all yours Len… all yours.”

 

~* 6 Months Later *~

 

Len shifted and turned to his side, his hand reaching out for his mate, but felt nothing but empty space, he quickly got annoyed, he wanted his Barry.

His powers had finally fully come back three months after they had bonded. He decided to keep his promise to Barry and take him to all the different Temples. They began their journey around the continent, and were currently making their way through the Northern mountains. Len mentioned they were close to his old nest area and Barry instantly wanted to find it. They traveled further into the mountains until they found the small cave. Len remembered it being a lot bigger, but then again, it was a while back.

They spent the night there, using their blankets to create a makeshift bed on the hard ground. That is where Len now found himself… alone!

He heard giggling which finally made him open his eyes and lay on his back, looking at the entrance of the cave. Barry was standing there with nothing more than his sleeping pants.

“Do you always have to wake up so grumpy?”

Len gazed at his mate and smiled, “only when I wake up alone in bed.”

Barry laughed as he stretched, looking out into the mountains. “I don’t think I will ever get used to this.”

“Used to what?” Len crossed his arms behind his head, propping his head up.

“The fact that I’m standing here, barefooted and shirtless with snow around me, and I’m perfectly warm.”

Len chuckled, “that is the benefit of bonding with an elemental dragon. You not only become immune to my power, but the element itself. It’s the same as why Caitlin could probably go swim in a volcano if she wanted.”

Barry laughed once more as he made his way towards him. He bowed down and and sat, straddling Len’s hips. He bit his lip as Len felt his emotions hesitate slightly.

“So, where is the next stop?”

“We are heading towards the Temple that is near the borderlands… AKA, Oliver’s Temple.”

Barry hummed and nodded, “so… we aren’t in any sort of schedule, are we?”

“No,” Len looked at him skeptically, trying to figure out what he was up to, “why?”

“Well, I just… really like it up here…” Barry shrugged, “I was wondering if we could just stay here a while.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah… I really like it up here. These mountains bring back some good memories for me, about when my family traveled around here, and with you added to the mix, well I just didn’t want it to end…?”

Len reached up and pulled him into a chaste kiss. “Any you want my mate. Not to mention it means I get to keep you all to myself for longer,” he smirked.

“You are going to end up getting tired of me,” he playfully pouted.

“Never!” Len sat up, bringing their faces closer. “I could spend every moment with you for a thousand lifetimes and still miss you the second you leave my side.”

Barry blushed and he cupped his face, kissing him deeply. Len pulled back and gazed up at his beautiful green eyes and pouty lips, “I love you Barry.”

Barry smiled shyly, rubbing their noses together, “and I love you, my mate.”

Len couldn’t stop the shiver that went through him, Barry moaning as he felt his emotion. Nothing could make him happier than this moment.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo... yeah... hope you guys enjoyed that?... <:)
> 
> So I know this sounds like the end... but it's not!!!  
> I have mentioned this to a few of you in the comments, but the whole point of this story is for mpreg... so I'm not done! Consider this intermission people, so go get snacks and take a bathroom break! Barry and Len have one more adventure to go through! LOL!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading up to this point and I hope you stick with me for the rest!!! As always, thanks for the support and leave comments!!


	11. ~Art Break~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No real chapter guys, just wanted to share some stuff!

Ok guys! I was super excited about this, plus it was just plain amazing, so I have to share!

Not sure if most of you have noticed, but Kotokoshka has been translating Dragon Temple into Russian. Now that by itself was incredible for me since it means someone actually likes my story enough to take their time and translate it. So thank you again Kotokoshka! Anyways, this morning I got an email with a surprise from a Russian reader and I had to post it on here!

 

*Update: so a lot more drawings came from this wonderful artist, so I have put them through out the story in the parts I felt they best suite without giving parts of the story away. Please check out her Tumblr blog if you can, it's amazing!!! https://yanpolosik.tumblr.com/

 

 

 

 

Again, you all are amazing and thank you so much for reading my story. I did change up my personal Tumblr so I can just use it for this, so if anyone wants to share anything, feel free!

 https://coldserenityas.tumblr.com


	12. What Do You Desire Most?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second part of the story begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wasn't sure how to explain it on here without it being forced, so I'm just telling you. Len and Barry's bond is stronger than the others, but not perfect. They can read their emotions a lot better than Mick and Caitlin, but they cannot sense where the other is just yet, it's slowly developing... this will come up later... lol
> 
> Oh... and Patty is a little girl... yeah...

 

 

“Barry, you can’t leave yet!” The small child ran up to him.

Barry quickly turned and bent down to pick her up, smiling at her adorable face. “Patty, you know I can’t stay, I have to go back up to the Main Temple.”

She pouted at him, her light brown hair falling forward on her face, “but I want you to play with me.”

“I know, but I can’t, I have to work just like your mommy and daddy who are Keepers.”

“Ok…” she said defeated, but quickly smiled, “Barry, will you be my husband!?”

Barry laughed, “what?”

“Yes, you will marry me and we will be a family, and then you can play with me all the time!” She announced loudly.

Barry laughed harder as he felt a shot of jealousy that wasn’t his go through him. Barry looked back where Len was standing, a scowl on his face.

“Patty,” Barry tried, “I’m bonded to Len, remember?” He pointed towards Len who had his arms crossed and glared at her.

Patty wasn’t intimidated in the least, “I don’t care, you will be mine!” She wrapped her tiny arms around Barry’s neck.

Len growled at the small child, Barry having to give him an exasperated look. Len huffed, turning his head to the side to avoid the tiny human that was currently snuggling up to _his_ mate. Barry put her down, kneeling to stay eye level, “How about I make you this deal, when you become an adult, we will talk about this again.”

She nodded and gave him a shy smile before looking up at Len, sticking her tongue out and making a face at him. Barry looked up just in time to catch Len sticking his own tongue out at her. Barry busted out laughing as Len grabbed his arm and started pulling him away from his tiny rival, Patty waving her hand and blowing kisses at Barry.

They started up the stairs to the Main Temple, Len grumbling under his breath. Barry could still feel some jealousy running through him.

“Len, she is a kid.”

“A kid that will grow into a woman!”

“And then she will understand that she can’t have me. You can’t seriously be jealous of a child?” Len growled again, but didn’t say anything.

“Hey guys!” Caitlin walked up behind them, quickly noticing Len’s sour mood. “What’s wrong with him?”

“We ran into Patty once again, and this time she announced we are getting married,” Barry rolled his eyes at Len.

Caitlin started laughing, “Poor Len, his rivals range from powerful dragons to five-year olds!”

“It ridiculous to think I would even be interested in anyone else!” Barry pulled Len close, trying to get him to lighten up.

“Your problem is that you are too likeable Barry,” Caitlin started, “even children like you, most run from me!” She pouted at the thought, “you seem to have a pretty good way with them, though. I find it surprising you wanted to become a Keeper.”

“Why?”

“You know, the whole ‘no family’ thing? Wasn’t it hard for you to choose that?”

“Joe said the same thing, he said I would be wasted as a Keeper, that I needed to have a family to take care of, like my dad.”

Barry sighed. He hadn’t thought of Joe, Iris, and Wally for while now. He got the idea of maybe getting Len to stop at his old village while they were visiting the temples, but he wasn’t too confident in being able to control Len’s jealousy, and he really didn’t want his adoptive family being frozen by his mate. But it had now been over a year since they bonded, and Barry knew how to keep Len from exploding on people, which is why Patty was still alive, he still couldn’t stop him from pouting though.

“So you are completely fine not having kids?” Caitlin asked a bit shocked.

“Yeah…” Barry shrugged. He did like the thought of having kids, but he felt like being a Keeper was his calling somehow. He wasn’t about to mention that he did get a bit excited when Julian told him Keepers could have families when he first arrived. During that time he thought maybe… just maybe he could have a family then? But of course with his luck, a dragon bonded with him practically the second he walked into the temple, so that went out the window.

“So no regrets?” She looked at him.

Barry smiled and turned to Len, “never! I now have a handsome ass dragon as my mate.”

Len gave him a lopsided smile, kissing his forehead as he laced their fingers together. Barry knew Len wasn’t entirely happy, he could sense it. He narrowed his eyes, about to ask him if something was seriously wrong or was he just still fuming from Patty, but Cisco finally joined them, interrupting Barry’s thoughts. They made their way to the dining hall, laughing and poking fun at Len’s jealousy over a child.

***

Barry ran into the small clinic where Caitlin could usually be found when she wasn’t making house calls. She was currently reorganizing her medicine cabinet, alone in the office. She quickly turned, startled by Barry’s entrance.

“Bar…?”

“Shhh…” Barry walked in and closed the door lightly. He quickly walked further inside, looking a bit worried.

“Why are you hiding?”

“I’m not…” he tried, but quickly gave up. He gave out an exasperated breath, “I’m hiding from Len,” he whispered.

“Why? Are you guys fighting or something?” She asked worried.

Barry slightly laughed, he was a bit embarrassed to say it, “No, no… it’s just that…” he looked down, playing around with some of the medicine bottles that were all over her desk, “it’s a bit personal…”

“Barry, I’m a doctor. I know way more than I would like about all the Keepers around here! You can’t surprise me.”

“Well, it’s nothing medical, just…” he threw his head back. He looked at her again, wincing slightly, “he is being weird.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah, I know something is off. He keeps saying he is fine, but I can sense that it’s not! I know something is bothering him.”

“So you are hiding because of that?”

“Well… no.” He ran his hand through his hair, “over the past month he has been more… ‘handsy’ than usual. And that is saying a lot, because we were already… ‘handsy’ as it was!”

Caitlin bit her lip, trying to hide her smile, “and by ‘handsy’ you mean… sex?”

Barry blushed and nodded. He honestly couldn’t bring himself to say the rest. Since their first time, Barry had gotten a lot more confident in the bedroom. They even started taking turns on who was on top, which he wasn’t going to complain about! But lately Len kept pushing for bottom, which just seemed… odd.

Caitlin now laughed, taking a few more bottles to place them on the cabinet. “Barry you had me worried that it was something serious. Maybe Len just can’t get enough of you,” she winked at him.

“No! I know something is up! I’m telling you, he is depressed about something! You know you can sense when something is up with Mick right? It’s like that with me, but worse, since my bond is stronger!”

Caitlin looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to him.

“Oh! And earlier I was looking for him and I found him talking to Lisa, and she was nagging him about something. I didn’t catch much, but she said that this wasn’t something you can push and he had to be patient. He looked annoyed and was about to reply, but then they saw me and stopped talking.” Barry sighed, “I’m just worried that I’m doing something wrong…”

Whenever Barry tried his best to cheer Len up, it just seemed to make things worse. He would be happy for only a second and then that feeling would come back. Barry still couldn’t place it. It was like sadness, mixed with guilt?

Caitlin walked up to him, giving him a quick hug. “I’m sure you are not doing anything wrong Barry, but you need to say that to Len. Make him realize that this is making you doubt your own self.”

“I just want him to be happy again… like he was when we first bonded.”

She was about to answer him when her door was suddenly opened. Len stomped in, looking around until his eyes finally landed on Barry.

“There you are!” He quickly walked up to him, grabbing him by the arm, “come on.”

“Hi Len,” Caitlin called out.

He barely nodded in her direction as he dragged Barry out of the office. “Come on mate,” he pulled him in close, “I want some alone time with you,” he smirked.

 

Barry laid back, catching his breath as Len continued to snuggle closer to him. He buried his face in the crook of his neck, humming in content. Barry felt at peace, he always felt complete when he was with Len. The warm feeling inside him would always feel stronger, and their emotions would almost become one. It was perfect.

They were in their house that Wells had made for them. They made it slightly further away from the Temple compared to the other two, at Len’s request. He didn’t like being so close to others now that he had the choice. It was an exact replica to Cisco’s and Caitlin’s, but it was _their_ home.

Barry looked down and kissed the side of his head. Len looked up at him and smiled, the emotions inside swirling and rushing around, making Barry giggle. He felt light and happy. This is what he missed, this is what he wanted to have always, like he used to. But very quickly Len’s smile became forced and that strange guilty feeling came back inside him. Barry narrowed his eyes as he began once again worrying.

“What is wrong Lenny, please tell me?”

“Nothing.”

Barry sighed in frustration, “Len, please. I know something is wrong.”

“Nothing is _wrong_ Barry. I’m just… impatient, like I always am when it comes to you,” he chuckled.

“So it’s me!?”

“No!” Len shifted until he faced Barry directly. “I just… I want to make you happy.”

“I am Len!”

Len looked down as Barry felt that pang go through him, that guilt once again taking over. Barry cupped his face, pulling him up and into a deep kiss.

“I am Len…” he repeated, “nothing could make me happier than I am right now, with you!”

“Ok…” he gave him a small genuine smile.

 

The two more weeks passed and nothing changed. Len tried to keep his feelings from seeping into Barry, but it was near impossible with their bond. Plus a dragons feelings were much more powerful than a humans, so Len’s were always more prominent. Which meant Barry continued to feel that depression inside of him. Barry wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. He continued to try to make Len happy, but as always, it just made him more depressed.

It wasn’t until week three that Barry finally woke up to a feeling he hadn’t felt in forever. He didn’t even need to look, he just felt excitement and extremely happiness flooding him.

He finally opened his eyes and looked down. Len was laying on top of him, his chin laying on his chest, looking up at Barry with a wide grin.

“Now that is the smile I have been missing,” Barry laughed.

“I’m sorry I had you worried,” his smile somehow got bigger, “I do have news.”

Barry cocked his head amused, “yeah?”

Len started to speak, but kept stopping, unsure on how to say what he needed. He bit his lip, and Barry felt a flush of excitement and fear rush through him.

“You are going to be a dad,” he finally blurted out.

Barry stilled, his entire face going slack, “whaaa…?”

“I’m pregnant,” Len smiled.

Barry sat up quickly, stern look on his face, pushing Len to sit back on his knees. “How?”

Len gave him a nervous chuckle, “I figured you never finished your reading. All dragons have eggs Barry, whether male or female, we just need someone to fertilize them…”

“You’re not joking?”

Len looked taken aback for a moment. “Barry, I know I don’t have the best record, but I swore to you I wouldn’t lie to you again and I specially wouldn’t about this.”

Barry stood in shock, his mind racing as he tried to grasp what was being told to him. He was going to have a kid… with Len? Why was he never told this was possible!? He had just assumed… and yeah, he didn’t finish his reading, but still… He had spent so many nights before coming to the temple telling himself he wanted to be a Keeper, that the whole family thing was overrated, that he didn’t want children. He made himself believe that he was fine with the life he was choosing. It was ok… _he_ was ok… but now…

“I thought you would be happy?” Len whispered.

Barry finally got out of his thoughts and his mind slowly started kicking back on. He realized he was flooding Len with worry and confusion and now he had no idea if Barry was happy or sad about this. Len’s smile had now left his face and Barry needed to fix this, now.

“Lenny… you don’t understand. I spent so long telling myself over and over that I didn’t want this, that I was fine never being a dad, but now…” He let out a chocked laugh. He quickly pulled Len into a tight hug as he buried his face in the crook of his neck. He continued crying and laughing at the same time, unable to barely speak. “I’m just so happy right now! I was happy before, I really was, but now,” he laughed hysterically, “this feeling… I just never knew I wanted this so badly…” Len wrapped his arms around him tightly, finally feeling some relief. Barry finally pulled back and looked at Len, “What made you do this?”

Len laughed and his hand caressed his faced.

“I told you before, I want to give you everything you want Barry, everything you desire to make you happy. I felt your emotions every time anything about a kid came up. It didn’t take me long to know what you wanted.”

Barry started crying as he buried his face again. His finger dug into Len’s shoulders, holding him as close as he could.

“I can’t believe this is real… this is just…” Barry quickly pulled back, wiping his tears away and looking at Len, “holy crap you're pregnant! What do you need? You should rest right? Are you hungry? I can bring you food. Do you guys get cravings like human women? Wait! So our kid is going to be half dragon? Has there been those before? How are they born? Are you going to lay an egg? How long is that going to be? Why didn’t I read the rest of those stupid books!!?”

“BARRY!” Len laughed as he cupped his face, smooshing his cheeks together. “I got this, no worries. The only thing you need to do is just stay by my side, that is all.” Barry nodded enthusiastically as Len pulled him into a kiss. Len smirked at him for a moment before finally adding, “well… there might be one other thing you can do for me,” he finished with a wink.

Barry laughed as he pulled Len and threw him down onto the bed. Barry carefully laid on top of him. “Whatever you want my mate,” he rubbed their noses together. “Whatever you need, whenever you needed it, I will give to you.” He gave him a quick kiss. “I’m going to spoil you rotten my love because you just made me the happiest man alive.”

“Yeah…?” Len moaned as a shiver went through his body.

“Yeah,” he gave him a smile, “no one is more perfect than you my mate.” Barry leaned down and pressed their lips together.

Barry was still trying to grasp what had just happened. He was going to be a father, and it was all possible because of Len. He honestly couldn’t be more perfect.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed, no cliffhanger, so yay! And now a baby is on it's way!!
> 
> Sorry this chapter was a bit short! The next one will have a bit more I think, and there will be some explaining as to how this is about to happen... yes, there is an egg involved... lol! But it will also explain why Caitlin didn't just jump to the conclusion that Len was trying to get pregnant and stuff, you will see! I should be updating next weekend hopefully. 
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading!!!


	13. A Spoiled Dragon!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry had a new job, caring for a pregnant dragon! Good thing Len just wants him!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know most of you Tumblr peeps have seen these, but I know not everyone is on there, so enjoy more wonderful art by a wonder fan!!
> 
> Posted the pictures thanks to my peeps Mockingbird_22 and Alexis_Tenshi!!! You guys are awesome!! 
> 
> The artist's page is linked below, please check out their work! :)  
> https://yanpolosik.tumblr.com/

 

 

 

Barry laid back against the tree trunk, sighing as he continued to relax. Len was laid out on top of him, his face buried in the crook of his neck. Barry’s hand kept rubbing up and down Len’s back as he rested comfortably. They were both enjoying their lazy morning outside since it was so nice.

Barry still couldn’t get over this morning. He was going to be a father!

He had flooded Len with questions after his initial shock. Apparently, it was possible for humans and dragons to have children. Like Len had said, both males and female dragons carry eggs. He explained that since he was the one having the child, it would go much like a dragon birth. In the case of Mick and Caitlin, it would go more like a human birth since she would be having the child.

The egg would take about three months to finally be ready to be laid. After that, it would all depend on how well the egg was taken care of. If done correctly, the egg would hatch in about four months, but otherwise, longer, like Lisa had. Barry continued to ask questions, and Len happily explained.

Normally when the egg hatched, it would be a dragon, but their child would be a halfling, a _hybrid_.

Hybrids weren’t seen much, and it was hard to tell apart from a dragon that was just in his human form since they looked the same, human body with dragon eyes. Hybrids that became powerful enough could become an actual dragon. Barry had laughed as Len assured him their child would be one of those few.

Len snuggled closer, holding him tightly. Barry smiled as he once again felt excitement about having a child and instantly felt a corresponding emotion from Len as he hummed.

They had skipped breakfast in the dining hall and just grabbed some stuff they had in their house. It was getting close to lunch time, so Barry knew he was going to have to go get them some food sooner or later. Still, Barry decided to enjoy his private moment a bit longer with Len as they continued to rest. He didn’t even bother opening his eyes when he heard footsteps coming closer. When he finally did open them, he saw Caitlin and Mick walking up to them, followed closely by Cisco. Barry and Len had been lounging out in the back of their home, so they weren’t hard to find.

“Well hello you two, I was worried when you didn’t show up for breakfast!” She started.

Len opened only one eye and glared at their new guests.

“Sorry guys, we were just enjoying ourselves for a bit.” Barry leaned down and started kissing Len on the side of his head.

Lisa popped out of Cisco’s shirt and looked down, staring for a moment before her face morphed into something close to in shock and anger at the same time.

“No way!” She jumped from his shoulder and flew down to Len.

Len laughed as he turned himself, facing up now. Lisa got close and started pressing her head against his stomach, searching for something.

“You asshole!!” she yelled.

Len threw his head back and laughed louder. Caitlin and Cisco gave each other confused looks, unsure of what was happening. Mick simply rolled his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Caitlin finally asked Lisa.

“He is pregnant!”

“What!?” both humans yelled.

“I can sense its energy! It’s really small, but it’s there!”

Barry bit his lip before joining Len in laughing. He kissed him once more on the side of his head as he felt the joy that was coming though him.

“I can’t believe you did it before me Lenny! I have been trying for a year now!” Lisa said offended. She slightly glared at him, but it was obvious that she wasn’t honestly mad.

“What?” Barry looked at Cisco for confirmation.

“Yeah man, hybrids are not made easily.” Cisco smiled, “some bonded pairs can go an entire lifetime trying, but never conceive. It’s all up to how strong the bond is so this is a bit of a shock really. You guys have been bonded for only a year!”

Barry looked down at Len in surprised, he had failed to mention that part. Len gave him a small smile. Caitlin finally squealed in excitement, congratulating both of them, Cisco and Mick following soon.

“I can’t believe this!” Lisa huffed, although a smile threatened to break through.

Len turned himself back around, cuddling back into Barry’s embrace and practically throwing Lisa off him. “Barry, they are bothering me! Make them leave.” Len announced.

Barry laughed, his hand pushing Lisa away even further, “shoo, shoo! You are now bothering my mate!”

“Kid, please don’t make his head already bigger than it is!” Mick sighed.

“Sorry Mick, but my Lenny here will get anything he wants when he wants it, so you must now leave.” Len smirked as he continued to keep his eyes closed, snuggling close to Barry.

“Why do I get the feeling you are going to be pregnant a lot Len?” Mick growled.

Len’s smirk grew wider as Barry held him tighter. Cisco rolled his eyes, bending down to grab Lisa.

“Come on, I’m about to be sick from all this ‘lovey dovey’ stuff!” He joked.

Mick started following them out, still shaking his head but laughing.  Caitlin giggled one last time, telling Barry she was going to bring them some food so they didn’t have to move. This seemed to win Len over as he looked at her and smiled, letting her know what he wanted.

After everyone was gone, Barry went back to relaxing with his mate. He kissed the top of his head once more before pressing his cheek against it.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to do this?”

Len hummed for a moment before answering, “You heard Cisco, the fact that it happened is a bit of a miracle. I didn’t want to get your hopes up only to dash them when it didn’t happen. I don’t think I could have bared hurting you like that.”

“So instead you kept it to yourself? Lenny…”

“It doesn’t matter now, we did it! We are having a child!” He grinned.

“Yes we are,” Barry bit his lip, “Thank you Len, for giving me this great surprise.”

“Anything for you, my mate.”

***

Barry walked back into their house, closing the door behind him and headed towards the kitchen area to drop off some of the food he was bringing in. He tried to keep it stock often just in case Len wanted anything. He took one of the lemons from the bag and sliced it up. He sprinkled some salt on it and headed back where the bedroom was. Len’s main craving ended up being anything sour, Mick having to comment that it matched his mood.

He walked into the bedroom where Len was laying on the bed. The three months were almost up and Len’s belly was now swelled. He wasn’t as big as a woman, but still quite large. The egg was in its final stages of hardening before it was ready to come out, which meant Len was having to stay still more now than ever, it being too uncomfortable to move.

Barry gazed at him with a smile. He couldn’t help but love the sight before him, even though Len was pouting. He watched as his frown became deeper and felt the slight annoyance go through him.

“Don’t stare at me!”

Barry chuckled as he finally moved closer to the bed, placing the plate by the night stand where it was close enough for Len to grab them. He leaned in and cupping his face, he gave him a deep kiss.

“I can’t help it, you look gorgeous,” he sat on the edge of the bed.

“No I’m not, I’m fat!”

Barry laughed once again. Even though Len could feel his emotions, he still doubted him. He pulled his shirt up and started running his hands around his belly. He leaned down and kissed the top before laying his head gently down to look at him.  

“You are carrying our child Len, a little you and me. Nothing could be more beautiful than that.”

Len pressed his lips together, trying to hide the small smile that was trying to break through. Barry knew his compliment was working, he could sense it. He climbed on the bed and sat between Len’s legs, both hands back on his belly and he began to kiss it all around this time. Len’s hand came up and started going through his hair as he hummed. Barry slowly moved up until he was hovering over him, lips brushing against one another.

“Why are you so grumpy Love? Mmmm?... Tell me what you need, what you want, and I will give it you.”

Len shivered, Barry sensing heat rising inside of him. His hands started caressing him lower, reaching Len’s thighs. He rubbed them up and down as his mouth dipped and began licking and biting Len’s neck, making him whine.

“Is this it? Were you just missing me?” He whispered into his ear.

“Yes…” he said breathlessly.

“I was only gone for a little while,” Barry smirked down at him.

“Still… I want you by myside, always.”

“Always and forever,” Barry pressed their lips together, kissing him hungrily as Len took hold of his hair and pulled him in closer. Barry braced himself with both arms, trying to not let any of his weight on Len, which seemed to frustrate him more than anything, but Barry knew he couldn’t press down against him, he wasn’t taking any chances with the egg.

Barry pulled back, making Len growl in frustration. Barry grabbed his hands that were still holding on tightly to his hair and kissed each one before sitting back on his knees. He leaned to the side and grabbed one of their pillows, Len smirking at him as he lifted his hips as much as he could. Barry placed the pillow under him, giving him a more comfortable position for what was about to come. Barry slowly reached and pulled his pants off, revealing Len’s now hardened member and making Barry’s mouth water. He honestly wished he could have Len fuck him right now, but that would have to wait until the egg was laid.

Len groaned, his impatience kicking in. Barry bent down and kissed his belly again, slowly leaving a wet trail as he made his way lower. His lips brushed against the head of Len’s cock, tongue dipping out for a second.

“I hate that I can’t see you!” Len growled.

“It’s only while I prep you,” Barry lifted his head and chuckled. 

“Still… nothing beats watching my cock go in your mouth.”

“Few more days my mate,” Barry winked as he lowered himself again.

He decided not to torture Len too much. He took his member into his mouth and started sucking on the head. Len mewled, trying to push his hips up more but unable to because of his belly. Barry continued taking him in further, letting the tip hit the back of his throat. His finger began circling Len’s entrance, giving a bit of pressure, but not entering just yet.

“Stop teasing!” Len growled.

“So demanding,” Barry chuckled.

He gave Len one last long lick up his cock as he then settled a bit lower. He went straight for the puckered hole and dipped his tongue in, pushing as far as he could. He sensed the arousal in Len spike up, only making his own higher. He lapped around the area and dived in again, slowly stretching and moistening the area.

He started pushing one of his fingers in, his mouth going back on Len’s member. His tongue swirled around the head as he worked a second finger into Len, his body easily opening up. He continued pushing his fingers in and out of him as he looked at Len. He had his head thrown back, panting. Barry kissed his belly again and began scissoring his fingers. Len moaned and finally looked at him, eyes pleading him for release.

“You want just my fingers, or more?” Barry smirked at him.

Len narrowed his eyes, his legs pushing up against Barry’s body. “Cock, now!”

Barry huffed a small laugh as he finally pulled his fingers out and started taking off his own pants. He watched as Len gaped at him, spreading his legs further, inviting him in. Barry pumped himself, not really needing it since he was already hard as a rock. He spat on his hand and rubbed it on his member, lubing it as much as he could.

He positioned himself against Len’s entrance and began to push in, sighing at the feeling of Len taking him in. He was so hot and tight, it was perfect. He pulled back slightly and pushed back in, slowly working his way further into him until Len was taking him whole.

“Yesss!” Len groaned.

Len’s arms came up and reached out for him. Barry smiled and leaned down as much as he could, giving him the kiss he wanted. His hands gripped Len around the hips and started thrusting slow, twisting his hips and loving the moans he continued to get out of Len. He kept their faces close, both staring into each other’s eyes.

Barry could feel their emotions swirling around, getting stronger as they both slowly started building their climaxes. Barry sat up and started thrusting faster, one hand coming down and massaging Len’s balls and brushing against his hard dick. Barry knew he was close, he could never keep control with Len’s voice wrecked and moaning his name. He continued thrusting faster and faster, then with one last push, he reached his max and spilled his seed inside him, moaning. He felt Len follow him, the feeling of Barry’s cum inside him pushing him over the edge.

They both panted, looking at one another silently until they both started smiling. Barry leaned down again and kissed him on the lips.

“Better?”

Len bit his lip and nodded. His hands started running up and down Barry’s body, his legs tightening around his waist.

“Can I just keep you inside me like this?”

“Silly,” Barry kissed his nose.

Len finally released him and Barry was able to pull away. He quickly went to their restroom to clean up and then brought a wet towel to clean Len with. When he finally finished, he joined him back on the bed once more. Len was happily sucking on a lemon slice, humming. Barry smiled and leaned in, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. He regretted it almost immediately as he tasted the sour lemon. He made a face at Len, making him laugh. Barry couldn’t help but love the sound.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” His mate was happy, that was all Barry cared about.

***

Barry paced back and forth, panicking. He didn’t know what to do, how to make it better. He felt horrible, he was the worst mate ever! Wells had warned Len, told him to transform into his dragon form months ago before it was too late to make the laying easier, but Len had refused. Now…

Len let out another yell, sending a shiver down Barry’s back. He laid back and panting on the bed. He turned his head towards Barry and reached out towards him. He quickly rushed over, sitting on the bed and adjusting them until Len was leaning against him. Barry wrapped his arms around him, holding his chest and Len grabbed onto his hands.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what to do…” Barry whispered.

Len huffed out a laugh, leaning his head back. “Just this Barry, just be right here and I will be fine.”

Len had been in pain for hours now, the egg ready to come out. Caitlin was keeping a close eye on him, but even she herself wasn’t sure what to do, she knew human bodies, not dragons. Still, Len had assured them he would not need help, which only made Barry worry more. The others had decided to wait outside just in case they were needed, all of them hearing Len growling and yelling.

Barry kissed the side of his head, feeling Len’s emotions as another shot of pain started going through his body. Len growled once more, his legs kicking out, bunching up the sheets at the bottom of the bed.

“Everything is fine Barry,” Len said breathlessly after the pain had passed.

Barry let out a frustrated laugh, “I’m supposed to be encouraging you, not the other way around!”

“Well then do it, tell me nice things,” Len smiled, exhausted already.

Barry chuckled this time, hugging Len tighter. “You are amazing you know that? I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect mate. You are truly one of a kind.”

Len hummed, “more!”

Barry couldn’t help but laugh. He meant every word, Len was incredible. Only he would still be cheering Barry up while going through this. Barry kissed him hard on the cheek, his hand coming up and wiping some of his sweat away from his forehead, “I love you Len.”

 

It took almost the entire day, but Len somehow managed to do it. Caitlin and Wells were in the room, monitoring when Len finally pushed hard enough and the egg came out.

Wells quickly took the egg and started cleaning it with a warm towel carefully. It looked to be about twenty-four inches long. It was light blue and almost seemed like a large gem rather than an egg.

Len finally caught his breath and started pulling on Barry’s shirt, “get the egg Barry, get it now.”

“But Wells is…”

“Now Barry!”

Barry quickly got out of the bed and started walking towards Wells to take the egg. Wells continued whipping it with one hand as the other held it. He suddenly yelled, throwing the egg up in the air. Barry rushed forward, catching the egg in time and glaring at the older man.

“What the hell Wells!!” Barry yelled.  

Wells was grabbing onto his side and arm, hissing in pain. “It attacked me!”

Len started laughing as he continued to lay on the bed, all three of them turning towards him.

“He is strong enough that he will attack any energy he doesn’t know.” He glanced over at Barry and smiled, “only you and I can hold him right now.”

Wells huffed, shaking his head, and started making his way out the door. “Some warning could have been nice!”

Len just smirked, not really caring that he had pissed off the old man. Caitlin looked over Len one last time to make sure everything was fine and then she stepped out, letting him rest. Barry figured the rest of them could see the egg later, he just wanted some peace and quiet after the day they just had. He wrapped the egg in a warm blanket and carried it back to the bed. He settled himself beside Len, his back up against the headboard and placed the egg on the other side. Len snuggled up against him, his head using his thigh as a pillow. He reached over and placed a hand on the egg.

“He is happy right now.”

“That so?”

“Yeah… I can feel his emotions when I touch him, not as well as I feel yours, but it’s still there.”

“No fair,” Barry pouted, “I want to know too.”

“You will. It will just take some time, that’s all.” Len smiled.

He hoped he was right, he wanted to feel what their child was feeling, especially since he couldn’t see him right now. That was something Barry was excited for, to see the egg hatch and their child be born. He wondered what it would be. Barry smiled as he realized he was already saying ‘he’ because Len said it.

“Len, why did you say ‘he’?”

“Because it’s a ‘he’,” he huffed. “It’s was hard to tell when he was inside, but now that he is out, I can sense his energy more distinctly. It’s how I knew Lisa was a girl before she ever hatched, their energy tells you.”

“So we have a son?” Barry smiled down at him.

“Yup!” Len yawned, “I’m just going to close my eyes for a second, ok? Don’t go anywhere.”

Barry chuckled, “you rest peacefully Len, I’m not going anywhere. I will be here watching over both of you.”

Len hummed and cuddled closer. Barry couldn’t help but tighten his hold on both Len and the egg, smiling with pride.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know! I'm late! Sorry guys! Blame my co-workers for making me go out Friday when I should have been writing! LOL!
> 
> The egg is here! This will be the last chapter that kind of jumps around in time. The next one will start a bit later than where this one ended, but then no more jumping! And... maybe cliffhangers... so enjoy this ending!
> 
> See ya next weekend!!


	14. Trouble Brewing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The egg's hatching day is getting close and the group decides to take a trip to Oliver's Temple! Unfortunately, their timing couldn't have been worse.

 

 

Barry walked around, cradling the egg that was currently wrapped in a blue blanket. They were getting close hatching day. He was getting nervous about having a baby, a little hybrid, it was terrifying but exciting at the same time!

He really hoped he could be a good dad. He was scared that he would do something wrong, or not know what to do. He thought back to his own father. His dad had been incredible. He was always busy helping and caring for others, but he never let that take time away from his own family. He always made sure to be there for his mom and him, even in the very end. That is who Barry wanted to be, to model himself after. He wanted to be there for his son with anything he needed, make him happy, protect him against the world.

He felt a rush happiness go through him. It was light and soft and he knew instantly it wasn’t Len, it was their son’s. Barry had been over the moon the first time he had felt it. It had taken a few weeks after the egg was laid for Barry to first sense it. What made it harder was Len’s emotions in the mix. Their bond was still getting strong, and the dragon’s feelings always took over. When Len felt happy, sad, and especially angry, it completely took over Barry’s body. Len always tried his best to stay calm as much as he could, even more so now, so that not only Barry didn’t get overwhelmed, but so he could sense their son’s emotions.

He smiled down at the egg, cradling it closer. He loved feeling that their son was happy, especially when he was with him. He felt like he was at least doing something right if their child was happy.

“You are going to spoil him if you keep cradling him Barry,” Caitlin giggled from one side. She usually visited since Barry stayed at home for the most part, his entire attention now on the egg. They were currently sitting in the small living area up front in Barry’s home. “I can hold him for a while if you like?”

Cisco huffed from the chair he was sitting at, pouting.

“Nah, I’m good,” Barry smiled.

Caitlin ended up being the first person the egg allowed to hold him. Lisa had been next, even though she was quite angry that Caitlin got to be the first. Mick didn’t really try at the beginning, it wasn’t until a few weeks later that he reached over and was able to just touch him. It was a bit of a mystery if Mick could have held him from the beginning or not. The only two that were off limits were Cisco and Wells. Wells was more than happy to not touch the egg ever again, not after the frostbite he left on him. But poor Cisco had tried countless times, but kept failing. The second his hand was about two inches away from it, his hand would begin to ice. Len had said it was just people’s energy and who he chose to let close.

“I swear Barry, Len somehow did this on purpose!”

“How can Len control who the baby wants to touch him?”

“I don’t know, but he did!” 

Caitlin and Barry laughed. Lisa popped out of his shirt and climbed on his head, stroking his hair.

“No worries my mate, you will get to hold him soon!” She tried to cheer him up.

Wells strolled in through the front door that was usually kept open during the day. He greeted everyone and held a letter up.

“We have an invitation, from Oliver.”

“Invitation to what?” Barry asked as he sat down next to Caitlin.

“Apparently out dear Oliver has found a mate. His temple is celebrating this and they have sent us an invitation to celebrate with them.”

“Oh that sounds like fun! I want to go!” Lisa perked up.

“I think we should all go, he did help us out before,” Wells nodded.

“I don’t know, I think I rather stay here,” Barry winced. He was happy for Oliver, but he just didn’t feel like taking the egg out that far.

“Barry, you have been a homebody for the past four months, you need to get out and have fun!”

“I know Cisco, but…”

“It will be a lot harder for you to travel and have a bit of fun once the egg hatches,” Caitlin added.

Suddenly both Len and Mick walked inside the house, bringing some food for everyone. They put the snacks down on the table and Len quickly made his way over to Barry, giving him a kiss on the head.

“Len, will you please tell Barry he needs to go to this party?” Lisa asked.

“What party?”

“Apparently Oliver is has found a mate and they are celebrating. I told them I rather not go…”

“Nonsense, we are going!” Len announced quickly.

Barry looked at him confused. He had figured he would be the last one to want to go see Oliver.

“You want to show off again, don’t you,” Mick laughed.

“Hell yes! Asshole thought he could take Barry from me! Now I get to rub it in his face, _again_ , and this time with our son!” He smirked.

“See Barry, it’s decided, you are going!”

Barry pouted. Guess this wasn’t such a bad idea, and they were right, once the egg hatched it would be a lot more work and he and Len wouldn’t get to go out much, so why not.

“Fine!” He turned towards Len, “hey, can you get me some grapes? I don’t want to get up from here, I think he is sleeping and I might wake him.” He said giving him a pleading look.

Len pursed his lips as he got up.

“Miss being pregnant yet?” Mick teased.

“You have no idea!” Len shook his head, but winked towards Barry when he saw him with a worried face.

 

The whole crew packed up and started their journey towards Oliver’s temple. It would take them about five days or so reach it. Mick laughed and said if they wanted to, he could transform to his actual size and have them there in a few hours… But he would also be destroying a lot of landscape and possibly stepping on a few humans on the way. It was quickly decided that horseback was fine. The journey there ended up being prety uneventful, the worse thing to happen was Cisco got a bad cold.

They reached the temple on the day of the celebration. Oliver was excited they had accepted the invitation and happily introduced everyone to his Intended. Her name was Felicity and the entire group instantly liked her. She was beautiful, intelligent and incredibly sweet. Although, Barry didn’t miss the whispers of how some of her characteristics reminded them of him.

Oliver grinned when he saw Barry, quickly coming up to him to welcomed him personally. He quickly narrowed his eyes when Len walked up, holding the egg with a smirk.

“One year and you have a child!?”

“Strong bond,” Len shrugged. Barry could feel the cockiness inside Len at that moment and he simply shook his head. Oliver rolled his eyes at him before turning to Barry and congratulating him on their child.

They all settled in their rooms. Barry had been here once before, so he decided to show Caitlin and Cisco around since this was their first visit. The temple’s design was practically identical to theirs, except this one was three floors instead of just one. There was even a small town right below it where the celebration was going to be held. They weren’t right up against the wall, it was about a mile away, but it was still visible from some of the higher areas of the temple, like its balconies. Since the sun had already set at this point, the smaller villages around the area were now visible, their lights coming on. They were even able to see the far off ones that were right up against the wall. 

They started making their way down towards the town to join in the celebration. Cisco decided to stay back, his cold getting the best of him. He convinced Lisa to go with the others, since he knew she had been excited for the party. He figured he would just relax and read some of the old books this temple had while looking over the egg. Barry helped him by setting up a nest of blankets on one of the large tables in the library and placed the egg on top. This way Cisco could watch him, but not have to touch him at all and get frost bite.

When they arrived at the town, the celebration was in full force. The towns people were drinking and dancing, everyone laughing and enjoying their peace. Oliver and Felicity were going around talking to everyone, thanking them for coming. Barry couldn’t help but be happy for him, they made a cute couple.

The group found a small area to sit at and began their drinking and eating. Before they knew it, they were all feeling the alcohol and relaxing. Apparently liquor was the key to making Len and Oliver get along because suddenly they had their arms around one another, laughing, as they told each other their own adventures and failures in getting their mates. Mick of course had to show off his dance skills once again. To everyone’s surprise, Wells joined him… and he was worse.

Barry swayed to the music and Len came up behind him, holding him close. “How about you and I go find us a small dark corner?” He whispered.

Barry smiled as he turned to face him. Len winked at him and Barry couldn’t help but blush, Len was too handsome sometimes. Instead of answering, he simply grabbed his hand and started pulling him away from the group. Once they found a quiet spot, Len was on him, kissing him hungrily as he pushed him up the wall, pressing his entire body against him. Barry enjoyed himself, they really had needed this small break.

 

~*~

 

Cisco coughed as he continued to try to read his book. He had just finished his tea which did seem to help him a bit. He looked up from his book towards the table on the other side where the egg was currently laying. Barry had wrapped it with plenty of blankets, something that Len kept telling him wasn’t fully necessary since he was an ice hybrid and thus the cold didn’t bother him, but Barry insisted.

Cisco got up and walked towards the egg. He knelt down so his face was looking straight at the unborn child. He bit his lip and looked around, making sure no one would hear him. Most of the Keepers had gone to the party, but there were still a few that remained in the Temple.

“Hey little guy,” he whispered. “Look, I know you don’t like me, but I just want you to know that I’m actually really excited to meet you.” He felt slightly silly, but he honestly wanted to try. “Your aunty and I were trying to have a child ourselves, but having a nephew is just as good for now. I can’t wait until you are old enough and I can start teaching you stuff about the dragon world. You won’t be able to count too much on that with your human daddy, he is still learning himself,” Cisco laughed, “and your dragon daddy… well who knows what lies he might tell you to make you behave. So you can trust me to tell you the truth.”

He sighed as he stared at the blue gem like egg. It was amazing how it almost looked like it could glow in the dark. He decided to try one last time, his hand slowly reached up onto the table. His fingers started getting closer and closer, he went extremely slow to be sure to pull away the second he felt cold. He suddenly realized he was closer than he had ever been and still felt nothing. Even with the blankets he would could feel the chill, but not at this moment. He dared to go a bit closer until his finger touched the blanket covering the egg.

 _It was warm_ …

Cisco stood and moved his hand up higher, touching the actual shell part that was exposed and felt the warmth again. He started chuckling and his hand caressed the egg, tears coming to his face.

“Thank you for you giving me a chance little guy. I won’t let you down.”

He couldn’t believe it, Lisa was going to freak! He finally got to touch the egg! He grinned madly as he finally pulled away. His nose was starting to run again, so he figured he should go get some more tea since that seemed to help. He gave the egg one last look and turned, ready to leave. His mind only having a millisecond to register the plank of wood coming towards his face, and then… darkness.

 

~*~

 

Barry grinned as he hugged Len’s arm. The sun was starting to rise and they were all making their way up to the Temple. Barry felt exhausted, but the celebration had been incredibly fun. Mick carried a passed-out Caitlin bridal style and Lisa was hanging onto Len on the other side. To Len’s horror, she kept telling him all the naughty things she was going to do to Cisco. Len kept trying to shut her up, but she just wouldn’t, loving the fact that she was annoying her brother.

They reached the temple and Mick headed towards their room. Lisa continued walking with Len and Barry, heading to the library where she knew Cisco still was. Barry was ready to go pick up their son and head to bed for a nice long rest.

“Ciscooooo….” Lisa sang as she walked ahead of them and entered the library first. They all froze at the sight of Cisco unconscious on the floor, dry blood on his forehead. Lisa screamed as she ran to his side, trying to wake. Barry took a few steps forward before quickly looking up at the table where the nest of blankets was.

The egg was gone.

Before Barry could even react, every nerve in his body felt like it was on fire. He struggled to breathe as rage consumed every part of him, the need to kill taking over. Barry had never felt this, never imagined being able to feel something this strong, and that is when it hit him.

 _These were not his feelings_.

From behind, Len roared, shaking every part of the Temple as he let out his rage. Whoever did this was going to pay with their blood.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh... Len is maaaaaadd... So, some of you probably thought that when I said "Len and Barry have one more adventure," you thought I was talking about the child... well I wasn't... hehe!
> 
> Sorry for the short chapter guys, but no worries, the next one should be longer. Because of this though, don't be surprise if it doesn't get posted next Friday. I will try, but with school now it's harder to write longer chapters in one week.  
> Oh... and yeah... cliffhangers are back! hehe!
> 
> As always... THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR WONDERFUL SUPPORT!! You have no idea what it means to me!


	15. Friends are Made?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Len's son is now missing and Len is out of control. Nothing worse can happen to him... right? Oops...

 

 

Barry wasn’t sure where everyone had gone. He knew Cisco was taken to the medical room to check on his wounds, he still hadn’t woken up last he saw him. He was sitting on one of the chairs in the library, holding one of his son’s blankets. Currently, he was the only one that could be in that room at the moment.

Len continued pacing back and forth. Growling every few seconds as he let out another burst of his power, all the shelves encased in ice now. Barry could barely breathe. Len’s emotions were still out of control. He continued to go from enraged, to depressed, to frightened, to enraged once more. Each one filling Barry to the point where he couldn’t even deal with his own emotions. He silently sat instead and held on to the small blanket, waiting for Len to calm down so he might be able to think straight.

Suddenly the door opened and Mick stomped in, his powers coming alive to keep the ice from bothering him. He took a quick look around the room before his eyes landed on Len who glared at him.

“You need to calm down,” Mick said sternly.

“Don’t tell me what to feel!”

“Len…”

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M GOING THROUGH!”

“I REALIZE THAT!” Mick quickly moved forward, grabbing Len by the shoulders and shaking him.

Len growled, trying to get Mick to let go. Barry felt his emotions inside going crazy, causing him to fold over in the chair, sucking in air.

“Listen to me,” he forced Len to look at him, “I know… I know!” Len let out another frustrated growl. “Len! If you ask it of me, I will happily burn every inch of this fucking land right now,” he gritted, “but I need you to focus!” Len swallowed and glared at him. “Use that damn brain of yours that you like showing off so much. Tell us what to do. _I_ need you to focus, your _son_ needs you to focus, your _mate_ needs you to focus.”

Mick held him, watching him closely until he saw Len finally take in a deep breath and nodded. Barry finally was able to breathe calmly as Len’s emotions finally retracted, releasing the strong hold they had on him. Barry looked up and saw Len now giving him an apologetic look. He walked up to him, pulling him up and into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry,” Len whispered in his ear.

Now that Barry was free from Len’s emotions, his own came crashing in. He began to cry into Len’s shoulder, holding onto him for dear life. He just wanted his son back, safely. He felt Len’s emotions swirling again as he started thinking, coming up with some sort of plan on what to do. He finally pulled back and pressed their foreheads together, giving Barry a determined look.

“Our son will be in your arms by sunset my mate… after I tear the person who is responsible for this to pieces,” he growled.

“What are you going to do?” Barry whispered.

“Mick here just gave me an idea.” He kissed his forehead and took hold of Barry’s hand, leading him out the door, followed closely by Mick.

They found everyone inside what appeared to be a meeting room. It had one of the large tables like in the library and several chairs where everyone was seated. The second they walked in, Caitlin quickly got up and hugged Barry tightly.

“I’m so sorry, are you ok?”

Barry knew instantly she had been crying herself because of her red eyes. Barry nodded and took a look around. Most of the group was present except two.

“How’s Cisco?”

“Still out. Lisa is with him in the medical room. If we thought she was clingy before…” she tried to smile, but quickly looked away.

Barry finally turned to Len who was standing straight, arms crossed, glaring at Oliver from across the table. The minutes stretched, and everyone stood silent.

“Len, I don’t know…”

“Save it,” he gritted, “I don’t care how it happened, all I care is how we are going to get him back.”

“Well it’s obvious it was someone from the Wastelands, no one on this side would be stupid enough to steal a dragon egg,” Wells started.

“There have been a lot more thieves sneaking in lately. We haven’t been able to find out where they are coming in. I have doubled the security on the wall but it’s not stopping them,” Oliver huffed, giving Len a quick glance.

“They got in, nuff said. We need to stop them before they make it back over the wall with the egg.” Mick grumbled.

“I already sent out the word for my people to be on the lookout. Hopefully someone will stop them, or let us know before it’s too late…”

“People can’t be trusted,” Len spoke interrupting Oliver. His voice was cold as he looked around the room.

“People here are not like that…” Oliver tried.

“That’s a joke! Humans and dragons alike will always look out for themselves. They will prefer to stay out of it rather than risk any danger to themselves.”

“What do you suggest?” Wells asked.

“Make it _their_ problem.”

Oliver narrowed his eyes at him, “what do you mean?”

“I will have my son back by this afternoon, or I’m freezing every inch of this land.”

Oliver stood, slamming his hands on the table, “you can’t take this out on…”

Len growled as he grabbed the large table and threw it across the room, barely missing Wells who quickly got out of his chair and dropped to the floor.

“I WILL DO WHAT IT TAKES TO GET MY SON BACK!”

“YOU CAN’T KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE!”

“I WILL KILL WHOEVER I NEED TO!”

Both dragons glared at one another, not moving from their spots. Oliver knew there was no talking him out of this. He turned towards Barry, pleading with his eyes to talk some sense into Len. Len caught on and growled, grabbing Barry and storming out of the room. He walked quickly, going towards the front of the Temple. Everyone followed behind, Wells and Oliver trying to speak, but Len wouldn’t listen. Caitlin looked at Mick who just smiled reassuringly at her.

He walked out the main door and finally let go of Barry. He started glowing brightly and suddenly morphed into his dragon form. He climbed out of his clothes and began to scale the temple wall, going towards the roof. Barry watched carefully as he picked up Len’s clothes on the ground. Once he reached the roof, he jumped off, his body once again glowing. The form headed up towards the heavens as it got larger and larger, taking on a more serpent look as it hovered over the sky. The glow finally dimming down revealing a large white dragon floating above them.

It was Len in his full form.

Barry gawked as he stared. He was practically as large as Mick, his whole body taking over the sky. His white scales glowed brightly and the air all around them instantly became chilly.

“Len! Don’t do this!” Oliver yelled.

Len opened his mouth and let out a loud roar, shaking the entire land.

“What is he saying?” Wells yelled over him as he and everyone else covered his ears, the roar being too loud.

Mick, who didn’t seem bothered by the noise, simply chuckled, “just what he said he would do. He is telling every dragon to find his son, or else they are all going to die.”

 

~*~

 

Shawna continued to set up her little table for the day like she did every morning. She carefully placed each tiny figure for display, trying to arrange them in the best way to catch people’s attention.   

Hartley chuckled.

He would never understand why she made them. They were tiny dragons with skeleton heads and she called them Peek-A-Boos. She would tell people they would bring them luck, yeah right. How the hell were tiny clay figures lucky? Whatever, it made money so he guessed he couldn’t complain too much.

He wasn’t artistic like her, he just used his knowledge. He liked to fix people’s clocks or watches for a price, it was how he survived before he started being the third wheel to Shawna and Mark.

How the hell did he get himself into this situation?

He had been minding his own business honestly. He’d been on his own for longer than he could remember, his parents having abandoned him when he was young. There were a few families that tried to take him in, but he never wanted to stay. He always felt like an outsider, he was a hybrid after all. He didn’t fully fit into the human society nor the dragon, just stuck in between, like now.

He may have picked a fight with a dragon that he shouldn’t have… so yeah, his ass had been getting kicked. He even tried to pull out his small pocket knife, but it was no use, the thing was rusted and old, the only use was to tinker with clocks. He tried to use his power, but that was quickly out of the question when the dragon grabbed him by the throat. He couldn’t use his sonic blast on the guy while he was constricting his air way.

Lucky for him, another dragon passed by, Mark, and saved him. To this day he wasn’t sure why he did it, he had been drunk as hell at the time, but he did it. He easily took care of the asshole dragon and then took Hartley back to where he was staying. It was there he met his human Intended, Shawna. She was really sweet and welcomed Hartley right in.

Then… something happened.

Hartley had every intention to leave the next morning, but Mark refused. He even started growling when Hartley insisted. Strangely enough, Shawn encouraged him to stay, so Hartley did, figured Mark would calm down, or get tired of him and then he would be on his way… but it never happened. Here they were, two years later, and Hartley still wasn’t allowed to leave Mark’s side. He never would explain himself, just get angrier until Hartley dropped it, or Shawna stepped in and calmed him down.

Great, just fucking great… now he felt like a prisoner.

The worst of it was that Hartley wasn’t able to stop himself from falling for the idiot. He was always angry, a smartass, complete asshole… you name it, but apparently that was right up Hartley’s alley. The ass grew on him and now it just made this even worse. He already felt like he was in the way of him and his Intended, but now he had feelings for him… fucking perfect.

“What the hell!?” Shawna yelled.

Hartley was brought out of his thoughts as he looked to see what Shawna was yelling about. He saw a strange bald-headed man standing in front of her table. He had placed something large, wrapped in several blankets, on the table, even breaking some of the clay figures.

“The fuck is your problem, get that shit off!” She yelled.

Hartley walked up beside Shawna, making sure the guy didn’t try anything funny.

“Calm down bitch, I will be gone in a second.” The strange guy gritted. He kept shaking his hands, even blowing hot air on them from time to time.

Hartley looked at the object he was carrying. Whatever it was, the shape was completely lost in all the blankets. As Hartley stared at it, he realized some parts were covered in ice, it even looked as if it was slowly freezing as he watched it.

“Move it!” Yelled a man in a cloak from behind.

“You carry the shit then,” mumbled the bald man as he quickly took off the leather coat he was wearing and wrapped it around the object. He picked it up and started walking with the cloaked man, going further into town.

Shawna started cleaning up the table, removing the broken figures as she mumbled insults. Hartley continued to watch the two men as they made their way towards the small inn. It was pretty early in the morning, so it just seemed strange they would be going to check in now. There was also the object they were carrying, it had to be some sort of dark magic, right? What else would freeze so quickly? Plus, Hartley could spot a thief from the Wastelands a mile away, he had lived around the wall area all his life, it was hard not to spot them. Whatever they were up to, he wanted no part of, they were trouble.

He decided to shrug it off and began helping Shawna clean up the mess Baldy made.

 

It was passed noon now, and Hartley was starting to get hungry. Shawna had been able to sell a few Peek-A-Boos, so it wasn’t a bad day all. Hartley laid back in his chair, relaxing since he had no work to do. The day was pretty hot, so moving was not something he wanted to do at the moment.

Suddenly a rush of cold air passed through them, causing both Shawna and Hartley to shiver.

“What…” Shawna started, but was interrupted but a loud roar.

Hartley stood and walked out to the middle of the road. He could see the Temple in the distance, and hovering above it was a large white dragon that almost took over the entire sky above it.

“What is he saying?” Shawna was now beside him, staring at the white dragon as well.

“Shut up! Dragon speech is a lot slower, so wait a minute.” Hartley continued to concentrate, listening to what the large dragon had to say. Once the message was done, another cold blast came through, stronger than the first. They both shivered before he turned at looked at Shawna. Everyone around them started whispering, the few dragons that were hanging around started translating to the humans.

“Well?” Shawna asked.

“His egg has been stolen… and if it’s not given back by sunset…”

“Yeah…”

“We are all dead.”

“WHAT!? He can’t do that!”

“Yes he can.”

“That’s not fair! How are we supposed to find some tiny ass egg!?” Shawna snapped.

“I don’t know! He didn’t give instructions and shit!” Hartley snapped back.

Hartley watched as the people around the town began spreading the message, everyone becoming hysterical by the news. Well this was just great! Shawna was right, this wasn’t fair. Why were they being punished by something that had nothing to do with them? Seriously!? The thieves are not going to be walking around with the egg on display! And how were they supposed to know the difference between this white dragon’s egg and anyone else’s? Did he want them to bring every egg they found to him? Perfect, death by ice, Hartley hated being cold!

_Ice…? Wait!_

“Shawna!” He quickly turned and grabbed her by the shoulders. “The dragon is an ice dragon!”

“Soo…?”

“His child might be too!”

“Not following…”

“This morning, the weirdo! You remember? The thing he was carrying was freezing the blankets!”

Shawna’s eyes lit up as the memory came back. “Yes!! Do you think that was it?”

“Might be. I thought it was magic or something, but this makes sense!”

“So now what?”

“Well, we need to call that damn big ass dragon!”

“Ok, do it!”

Hartley gave her an exasperated look. It didn’t matter how many times he told her, she never could remember, he couldn’t _speak_ dragon. His dragon power was a sonic blast that came from his mouth. Any time he tried to speak dragon, instead of words, he would just blast instead. He had never been able to do it right, even with Mark trying to help him.

“Oh yeah… sorry…” she winced.

“Go wake up Mark! That asshole has been sleeping long enough!”

“You go wake him, he doesn’t get as mad when you do it!” She crossed her hands at him.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

She gave him a small smirk while rolling her eyes, “yeah, sure… I don’t know which is the bigger idiot. Just go wake him.”

Hartley shook his head and started walking towards their table. Set up behind where Shawna and he had been seated, there was a small makeshift bed on the ground where there was a passed out dragon in human form. Mark usually liked drinking, a lot, and ended up sleeping most of the day away.

Hartley walked up to him and started to kick him, calling him, trying to wake him up. Mark grumbled a bit before finally growling and sitting up, glaring daggers up at the person who dared wake him. The second his eyes laid on Hartley, the rage completely left and a look more like annoyance was replaced.

“What do you want Hartley?”

“Get up! I need you to call a dragon over for me.”

Mark quickly froze, eyes narrowing at him, “why!?” He snapped.

Hartley threw his head back, he hated when Mark got all possessive.

“Just do it! Get up!”

Mark scowled as he got himself up, dusting some of the dirk off himself before finally standing up straight, crossing his arms, and once again glared at Hartley.

“Look,” Hartley started, “we have a situation. There is some dragon threatening to freeze us if he doesn’t find his egg and I think I know where it is.”

“Who the fuck is going to threatened me like…”

“Shut it! Look, Just do as I say!”

Mark continued to stare at him, pouting, before finally huffing out a ‘fine’. Hartley filled him in on the details before Mark went to find a high enough place for him to transform into his morphed dragon form to be able to roar loud enough.  

 

It had been about two hours when Hartley noticed a group of three dragons and two humans walking into town. It was quite obvious which one had been the large white one, his face said it all. He quickly ran up to them.

“Looking for an egg?” Hartley smiled. The dragon glared at him, not saying a word.

“Yes, we are,” one of the humans stepped forward, giving Hartley a small smile. “My name is Barry and our son is missing.”

Oh… the egg carried a hybrid, interesting.

“Do you know where he is or are you just wasting our time?” Daddy dragon growled.

“Watch it asshole!” _Mark, right on queue_. Hartley rolled his eyes.

“I’m not here for idle chit chat, do you know where my son is or not?” The dragon’s voice started getting louder. The human winced and Hartley knew his mate’s emotions were too much for the human.

“Len!” one of the other dragons stepped in, he was pretty large, even in human form. “Focus!”

The dragon, Len, took a breath and calmed himself a bit. Hartley decided not to torture the guy anymore than he had to, plus Mark was already getting huffy himself. He told them about this morning, describing both the men he had seen and the item they were carrying, including the fact that it kept icing whatever blankets they had over it. He finished by saying he saw them go towards the inn, just a block down from where they were.

The dragons barely nodded at him and headed towards the inn. The human watched them leave and then turned towards Hartley. He gave him a big smile and quickly hugged him.

“Thank you!”

Hartley awkwardly hugged him back until he finally let go. “Sure… but I can’t guarantee that its him…”

“It doesn’t matter, you are at least trying to help.” He smiled at him again before walking to go catch up with the group.

Hartley felt slightly bad, since the only reason he did this was because of the white dragon’s threat.

“Come on, lets go find some food, I’m starving.” Mark shook his head and walked towards Shawna who was waiting for them by their table.

Hartley bit his lip as he watched the group go off. He was curious to see if it was their son. Despite not knowing them, that human seemed genuine. He honestly cared for his son, which was more than Hartley could ever say about his own parents. All he knew of them was rejection. He wondered how different his life would be if he had been able to grow up with parents as caring as those two. Maybe then he wouldn’t have ended up in such a fucked up situation as he is now. Hartley couldn’t help himself, he needed to see the outcome.  

“You guys go on, I just want to see this play out.”

“Hart!” Mark gritted.

“Calm your ass down, I will be right back, jeez.” Hartley walked off before Mark could respond, he would just deal with him later.

He reached the entrance of the inn where the group was now standing, ready to go inside.

 _Well this should be interesting to watch_.

 

~*~

 

Len stared up at the Inn, and Barry could still feel his rage going through him.

“You stay here,” Len started walking to the front door.

“What!? What do you mean? That is just as much my son…”

“Barry!” Len turned to him, gripping his shoulders, “I will get him back, I promise. But I cannot have you in there too. I need you to stay out here because I don’t know what is going to happen inside and I don’t want to have to worry about you. Stay!”

Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked in, joined by Oliver and Mick. Caitlin started rubbing Barry’s back, trying to ease his anger.

“So he seems charming,” Hartley deadpanned as he walked up.

“He is just… stressed.” She side eyed him before turning to Barry. “You need to calm down, it will help you think clearer.”

“I know, but still, I’m not completely useless!” Barry crossed his arms. He wanted Len to feel his anger, but he knew it was no use, Len’s still overpowered his too much at the moment.

“Just relax a bit.”

Barry let out a frustrated huff. How was he supposed to relax when his son was gone? Still, he knew worrying wasn’t going to help the situation, so he decided to try it out. He closed his eyes, relaxing his arms a bit, but still keeping them crossed, and pushed all thoughts out. He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind and relax.

“There we go, better right?” Caitlin encouraged.

“Huh, need to try that on Mark,” Hartley rolled his eyes.

Barry was feeling better though. He was about to say ‘thank you’ when he suddenly felt it… a pull, just like when Len had been missing. Barry looked up at the building in front of him where Len and the others. He cleared his mind again, trying to feel it, and noticed it wasn’t pulling him forward, where Len was, but back. Barry turned and looked out on the busy street of the town. He focused more on the pull and without saying a word he took off running.

Caitlin and Hartley started yelling for him, wondering where the hell he was going. Barry didn’t care, he knew if Len wasn’t the one pulling him then it could only be one other person, his son.

He started running, keeping his emotions down, pushing Len’s out and focused solemnly on that tiny feeling. He weaved in and out of the streets, making his way to what seemed the other side of town. Hartley and Caitlin close behind. The area became less populated, darker looking, but Barry kept on. He finally stopped in front of an abandoned building, the windows were boarded up, but the front door was opened.

Barry rushed in, not thinking thoroughly, Caitlin and Hartley still following. He looked around the empty house, the feeling telling him to go up. He found the stairs and ran up to an empty hallway. The doors on the right were all closed, but to the left there was one open. Barry moved towards the open room.  He walked in, and on the corner, sitting on a table, was his egg.

“You found it!” Caitlin beamed.

Before Barry could take a step towards him, the door slammed shut behind them, causing all three to turn. Standing there was a bald-headed man Barry had never seen. He was a dragon, or at least a hybrid because of his eyes. Barry looked around the room and saw no one else. Good, he could do this, just one guy, even if he was a dragon/hybrid, Barry wasn’t going to let him take his child.

The guy looked at all three before his eyes settled on Hartley. “Nosey brat! I knew you were the one that called them here,” the man gritted.

“I am taking my son back, and you are not stopping me.”

“That so? What the fuck is a human going to do to me?”

“I may be a human, but I’m also a father, I will not let you harm my son.”

The man growled and lunged forward towards Barry. Hartley quickly reacted and pushed Barry to the side and blasted the guy with his sonic attack, causing him to go flying back, breaking the door and falling in the hallway.

Barry stood straight, turning towards Caitlin. “Listen, take my son and when you see an opportunity, run! Do not turn back for anything, do you understand me?”

Caitlin nodded, quickly moving to the egg and cradling it in her arms. Barry wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he needed to clear the way for her to get out.

The bald man stood, grumbling and cussing and he shook off the dust from his clothes. “You really are annoying, Four Eyes!”

Hartley growled at him and faced him again. He inhaled once more to give the guy another blast, but the bald man was quicker. He spat out a green mist towards him, causing the hybrid to breath it in. Hartley quickly started coughing and gagging, collapsing on the ground, screaming as little as he could as his throat burned due to the poison.

The bald man stood straight and laughed, enjoying the pain he had put him through. Barry took his chance and ran towards him, tackling him to the ground, beyond the stair case. Barry held him down with all his might, barely turning his head to scream at Caitlin to run. She only hesitated for a moment before running down the stairs with the egg and out the door.

Barry felt some relief that at least his son was safe, but that didn’t stop the rage that was in him. This bastard had actually taken his son, Barry was not going to stand for this. He let his instincts drive him and he started punching down, straight on the man’s face. The man started trying to get him off him, or grab his arms at least to keep him from punching, but Barry found strength he never though he had and kept on hitting him. He wasn’t strong enough to knock the man out, but at least he was giving Caitlin more time to run back to the others.

“Really Kyle, a hybrid is getting his ass kicked by a human?”

Barry stopped what he was doing and quickly turned, finding a man standing behind him in a cloak. Before Barry could comprehend it, the man pushed a black stone that was in his hand towards him, touching Barry’s shoulder.

“Separatum!”

Barry fell onto the floor unconscious.

 

~*~

 

Len continued running down the streets, trying to figure out where the hell Barry had ran off to. He really wished he was able to have Cisco’s and Lisa’s bond right now.

He had been at the inn where of course they found the men had already left. Apparently the second they heard Mark’s reply, they had taken off. To make matters worse, Len found Barry missing when he came back outside. It was finally then he realized his emotions were once again out of control. He pulled them back enough to finally sense Barry’s. He was anxious and hopeful right before he felt him completely filled with joy. That was quickly switched to anger and worry and that is when Len started running.

“Leave it to you to have a mate that doesn’t understand ‘stay here’!” Mick growled beside him.

“Oh trust me, I’m planning on wringing that cute little neck of his!”

“He better not let anything happen to my mate!”

“Just shut up…”

Len collapsed on the ground, struggling to breath. He braced himself on his hands as his whole body shivered.

“Len!” Mick kneeled beside him, “what’s wrong?”

“I can’t feel him,” Len whispered.

“What?”

“I can’t… Barry… I can’t sense him…” Len breathed heavily, his emotions feeling completely lost and out of control.

“You mean he is…”

“No, not dead, I would still feel him…”

“Then what!?”

Len sat on his knees, looking up at Mick, tears on the verge of breaking.

“My bond with Barry… its gone.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay... and another cliffhanger...! Don't kill me! Hope the longer chapter was worth the two week wait though! 
> 
> So my main character is out! Guess we will need to go inside Len to see the continuation of this story! hehe! And we have Hartley, Mark and Shawna in the mix, wonder how their story is about to come out!  
> I will try my hardest to get the next chapter up by next week, but no promises. I know what I want to write and it might come out slightly long, not sure yet. 
> 
> Thank you guys so much for all your support! Please leave comments, I love them so much!!! :) See ya next chapter!!


	16. A Broken Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len tries to pull himself together after his bond is broken so he can go find his mate.

 

 

Len hated being alone.

He had felt this since he had hatched. Waking up alone, in an empty nest, feeling unwanted and unloved. This is probably why he had attached himself so closely to the small gold egg when he found it. He liked having someone to look after, someone to care and talk to, even if they couldn’t quite talk back just yet. He couldn’t describe the feeling he got when he had returned that one day and found the tiny egg missing.

_He was alone again._

He fought tooth and nail, going into a strange and dangerous land to get his sister back. He made sure to kill the bastard that had tried to take his little bit of happiness from him. Now he found himself lost, and knew this would not be easy, but as long as he had his sister he would be ok.

It’s was this feeling of needing, wanting someone, that made him risk so much when he found that other dragon imprisoned by that magician. He was alone too, and facing death to make it worse. Len couldn’t leave him there, even with the other dragon protesting and telling him to run.

After that, Len finally felt some sort of happiness. He had made himself a tiny family. They had their adventures, loving the thrill of stealing from thieves, it was a great challenge. They even found another dragon in the middle of that horrible place named Sara. She fit right into their little group, and traveled with them for a while. Len had really liked her, and same went for her. They started a relationship as they traveled around, and Sara even showed interest in maybe bonding. Despite how badly Len wanted that companionship, he didn’t feel right saying yes to Sara, so they parted ways, deciding to stay friends.

Soon, they all three tired of living out in the Wastelands, it wasn’t something wanted to do forever. Lisa ended up being the first to speak up about though.

They made their way across the wall and were introduced to a world they never thought was possible. There was no longer a need to hide, or pretend to be magicians, they were practically worshipped. It was a bit too much for them at first, which is why they just wondered around, staying away from most human villages. Len still didn’t trust them fully, at the end of the day, a thief is a human. But they slowly grew on him, and they finally decided to wonder into a Temple.

They had never seen so many dragons at peace, just laying around, as humans took care of whatever needs they had. It was insane to them. They started visiting all the other temples, seeing how different each one was and how they would accommodate certain types of dragons more than others. They finally made their way to one of the more well-known ones, situated in the middle of this ‘heaven’ as Lisa joked. They noticed it was a bit larger than the others, and had a much larger number of dragons around. Wells was the leader of this temple. He introduced himself to them and his new student, Cisco.

Len’s stomach turned, worry coming over him, as he saw Lisa’s eyes light up at the site of the human. He seemed nice enough, but he was still a human. Not to mention, he felt like he was losing one of his family members. He wasn’t able to stop it, no encouragement, no ‘let’s go somewhere else’, nothing. Lisa fell hard and before Len knew it, she was announcing she was going to make him her Intended.

Mick had been ok with leaving, but not Len. Despite how much he disliked it, he wasn’t leaving until he was sure that this ‘human’ was going to treat his sister right. His worry was completely unfounded however. Cisco treated her like a princes, giving her everything she wanted, even when being unreasonable. He spoiled her worse than Len had. This calmed his nerves, and actually made him quite happy, but it also made him slightly… jealous.

_He wanted that._

He wanted to have someone spoil him, to want to be with him… to love him. That lonely feeling came back once more. He decided he and Mick needed to head out, before that feeling could get worse, but of course, as luck would have it, a new Keeper came to the temple, and Mick was hooked.

He started following her around, barely even talking, just following. He wasn’t even hiding, he literary was right behind her the entire time. Len had asked him what the hell he was doing and he simply answered, “Don’t know, just want to be around her.”

Mick finally got around to bonding with her, and once more Len was completely alone. His small family had abandoned him to be with their mates. He felt betrayed, angered, he even lashed out slightly at the humans, but Len knew why he was mad. He wanted what they had, he wanted that feeling of having someone.

He stuck around, not wanting to leave. Even just being there and talking to Mick and Lisa from time to time was better than he being completely alone off somewhere. He did consider going back to the Wastelands, maybe finding Sara again. Who knows, maybe bonding with her wasn’t so bad. But deep down Len knew she wasn’t right. Hell, she probably knew that, they had been two lost and lonely souls during that time who needed company. No, that wouldn’t fix this feeling inside him, nothing would, or at least that is what he thought.

Then he saw a pair of green eyes and Len’s breath was taken away.

Julian had been bringing a new Keeper up to the temple. Len almost had missed them, enjoying his normal pass time of annoying other Keepers in town. The guy was tall and lean, brown hair and stuck out in every direction, and the most beautiful smile plastered on his face. Julian had been explaining something to him, but Len didn’t listen, he was too engrossed memorizing every single detail on the guys face.

He may have stalked a bit, just a little, but who could blame him. He remembers following him as he joined Caitlin and Mick after dinner. He was too far off to hear what they were saying. He saw the guy pull out a necklace and show her the pendant. Just from his face Len could tell it was important to him.

_That pendant had to be his!_

Whatever was this guy’s treasure, Len would keep and protect. He snuck into his room that night, which wasn’t hard at all. All those years of stealing really paid off. He got inside and walked up to the bed, looking up at this beautiful human sleeping peacefully. How the hell does someone actually smile in their sleep? It took everything in Len not to just jump on the bed and curl up next to him. He sat there quietly, watching him sleep, as thoughts came into his head, his want to have the guy, to make him happy, to make him his mate. He didn’t know how long he stayed, but he finally pulled himself out of his head and grabbed the necklace before quietly leaving.

He did feel somewhat bad the next morning, he could tell the kid was distraught over the loss. Len came up with his plan once the kid started working, and finally, FINALLY, got to introduce himself… somewhat. After that, there was no holding him back. He was going to get what he wanted no matter what, damn it! This guy, Barry, was his mate and no one better get in his way. So when it happened, when Barry was his mate, Len finally felt truly happy. He felt whole, he felt loved, everything he had yearned for.

 _He wasn’t lonely anymore_.

And then another miracle happened and somehow Len was making a family again, but this time it really was ‘his’ family. He and his mate were expecting a child. He couldn’t describe the feeling he got when he saw the large smile plastered on Barry’s face as he would sit around and cradle their egg, knowing he was the cause for that happiness. He felt so at peace, nothing could compare.

And then the worst thing happened, their son was stolen. Len was furious, who the fuck would dare take his child? He wanted to shred the person to pieces. The worst feeling was when he retracted his emotions, when he calmed down and felt Barry’s. Nothing hurt more than feeling his mate so distraught. He didn’t want to rush Barry with his emotions, but he couldn’t help it. The second he would feel Barry’s, rage would engulf him again and he didn’t know what to do. Luckily someone had pointed them to the right direction, and Len felt slightly hopeful that this nightmare wasn’t going to last very long and his son would be safe in the arms of his mate, who would smile once more.

 _Now… now Len was broken_.

His bond was gone. He couldn’t sense Barry at all. Every nerve in his body kept reaching out, trying to feel something, begging for him to respond, but nothing. Len was lost, hurt… _alone_. He never wanted this feeling back. This awful feeling of having no one next to him. It had been bad before, but now… now that he had tasted happiness, had his love, his bond, and it was ripped away… he couldn’t do this. He was on the verge of just outright crying. He needed Barry, he didn’t have his strength without him. He was nothing, he had no reason to even go on. Barry was his everything, and now all of that was gone…

_NO!_

He was not going to let anyone take this from him. Barry was his, and whoever did this was going to pay. He could do this, he just needed to focus like Mick had said. He needed to push all these feelings down, push them away and numb himself. He could do this, become his element.

 _Cold_.

He would not stop until his mate was back in his arms, even if he had to kill every living thing that stood in his way.

“Len?”

He tightened his jaw and swallowed all his grief down before looking up at Mick. They were back at the inn, with the whole group.

Shortly after collapsing, Caitlin had found them, running with his son in her arms. He had quickly grabbed him, feeling relief for only a second until he started yelling at Caitlin to tell him where Barry was. She had led them to the house, but they were all gone without a trace, even the young guy that had helped them wasn’t there. Len was furious, the only thing he wanted to do was blast out ice in every direction to freeze the idiots who took Barry. Mick quickly stopped him however, reminding him that if his bond was cut off, they couldn’t be sure that Barry was still immune to his power.

Now Len felt helpless.

They had no leads, or any clue who had done this, so now Len sat here, not even holding his son to keep his emotions away from him. All he knew is that they were probably heading to the Wastelands. Great, Len never wanted to go back there again, but there was no way in hell he wasn’t going after them. He was getting his Barry back, no matter what.

“Len? You still with me?” Mick tried again.

“Yeah…” his voice came out rough. He stood up, looking over at Caitlin who was holding the egg. “Keep him safe for me.” With that, Len started walking towards the area Barry had disappeared. There had to be someone that knew something. Theses thieves weren’t magically appearing, someone knew where they were coming from, and Len was going to find out.

“Wait up, I’m coming with you,” Mick called.

“Me too,” Oliver spoke up before Mick stopped him.

“You stay, Len and I can handle ourselves. Your priority is keeping those two safe,” he pointed towards Caitlin and the egg. “I will burn you to a crisp if even a scratch comes upon them.”

Oliver rolled his eyes and nodded. Len started walking again with Mick by his side.

“What’s the plan?”

“We need to find where the thieves are coming in from. They aren’t going over the wall, that’s for damn sure.”

“True, but if they have some other way, you know it’s going to be guarded quite well, since not even Oliver’s people know about it.”

“That idiot couldn’t find his own head if it was stuck up his ass.”

Mick chuckled. “Yeah… still…”

“HEY!”

Mick and Len turned to watch another dragon walking up to them, glaring at both. It took a second for Len to remember who he was, the idiot with that had been with that kid with the glasses.

“Where’s Hartley?” He gritted as he came up.

“Who?” Mick scowled.

“The guy that had me call you asses, he said he was going to see if you found your egg and shit. Where is he?”

Len and Mick looked at one another. Caitlin had said the kid got hurt during the fight, but since they didn’t find him, they were pretty sure he was taken along with Barry.

“We don’t know.”

“WHAT!?” The dragon started charging his lightning attack, threatening them.

“Look, we got the egg back, but the assholes kidnapped Barry, and your friend apparently, instead. We don’t know where they are, but we will bring him back for you.”

“Like hell I’m trusting you to bring him back.”

“We don’t need your help,” Len growled, he didn’t want some asshole getting in his way.

“I’m not offering help, I want to find Hartley, so I’m coming whether you like it or not.”

Len and Mick exchanged looks, they knew the dragon wasn’t going to be talked down. “Suit yourself, we aren’t going to look out for you, so you better be able to hold your own,” Len turned and stormed off again. 

They reached the area where Barry and the kid, Hartley, had disappeared and Len started looking around, trying to see if there was anything around that looked out of place. Behind him, Mick kept sighing as the other asshole kept grumbling insults under his breath.

“Mark!”

The three turned to see a young hybrid or dragon in human form run up to the asshole dragon. _Guess Mark is his name_ , Len thought.

“Hey Axel, now is not the time.”

“Yeah, like I would want to talk to you,” he rolled his eyes, “where’s Hartley, I got a job for him.”

“That is what I’m trying to find out. Some idiots have kidnapped him.”

“WHAT!? Who!?”

“We don’t know Axel, look…”

“Kid,” Mick started, “look, your friend is missing along with ours. They are probably heading towards the Wastelands for sale or something, we can’t really waste time here.”

“Wastelands…?” Axel whispered.  

Len studied him for a bit and realized the kid knew something from the way he started biting his lip. “Do you know something kid? Like where someone might cross over?” Len glared at him, frightening the young man.

“No.” He automatically responded.

“Your friend and my mate are about to go to a place where they are going to become slaves, you understand that right?”

He swallowed as he looked around again, gnawing at his lip once more. He gave Len a determined look before stepping in close, “if you want to cross, talk to my dad, but you didn’t hear that from me, got it? The last thing I need is a beating for rating him out.” He turned to Mark with a worried look, “I want to see Hartley again, so I’m trusting you to bring him back Mark!” He glared at the older dragon. Mark huffed but nodded at him. With that he decided to run off.

“So where can we find dear old daddy?” Mick turned to Mark.

Without saying a word, Mark started walking off, Mick and Len following. They reached the edge of town, at this point most building were falling apart. Mark lead them to a small store, Len would have missed it if Mark hadn’t lead them in. Inside were a few objects, stones, books, knives, random assortment of things for sale. An older man walked out, smiling at them with a grin that made Len’s stomach turn.

“How can I help you gentlemen?”

“Shut it, James, we need to cross the wall and I heard you can help with that.” Mark leaned over the counter.

The man’s face instantly turned hard, his smile leaving his face. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Not in the mood,” Mark growled, “Hartley is missing and I’m not in the mood for your shit!”

The old man grinned, “I always found that mutt annoying.”

Mark started sparking as his powers came to life. Len had had enough of this, the man knew something and he didn’t want to waste more time. He grabbed Mark by the collar and pulled him back, Mick catching him so he wouldn’t fall. Len stepped up to the counter, the man still grinning up at him.

“Tell us where to cross, this is your last chance,” Len said lowly, his power slowly lowering the temperature in the store. The man simple smacked his teeth, raising an eyebrow at him.

 _Wrong choice_.

Len’s hand came down on the counter and threw it to the side with ease. He quickly stepped forward, grabbing the man by the throat and slamming him onto the wall behind him. His free hand took hold of the man’s arm, pushing it up against the wall beside his head.

“You are going to tell me where they crossed, or you are going to start losing body parts,” Len gritted.

“I rather die than tell you shit!”

“Let’s prove that!” Len powered up slowly began to freeze the man’s hand. He tried to hold back the scream, but as his fingers turned black and the ice began to go down his arm, he couldn’t hold it in.

“STOP IT!”

“Where are they crossing!” Len tightened his hold on his neck. The man tried to struggle against him, but he was only human, Len barely had to put any strength on him. He powered his hand up again and the ice began to reach the man’s elbow. He screamed in pain as he saw the black follow the ice, his nerves slowly dying.

“OK!” He shouted.

Len released him, letting him fall at his feet. “Speak!”

He cradled his arm as he glared up at Len. “In my basement you will find a trap door. It leads to a tunnel that takes you straight into the first village in the Wasteland.”

“Sneaky bastards,” Mick huffed.

“So you saw them come in here with Hartley and you did nothing!?” Mark yelled.

“Like I care about that mongrel.”

“You asshole!” Mark growled.

Len grabbed the man by the neck once more, rage taking over.

“What are you doing?” He struggled, “I told you what you wanted!”

“You did, and I thank you.”

The man’s eyes went wide as he saw no amusement in Len’s. His stare bore into the human and suddenly he felt nothing but ice encasing him slowly. Before he was completely covered, Len tossed him over his shoulder. He was unable to move, the ice already too hard to break. Before hitting the ground, Mark zapped him with his thunderbolt, shattering the body to pieces.

Mick shrugged his shoulders as he looked at his two companions, both furious but feeling slightly better at having taken out their anger on the human. “So… shall we?” he gestured to the door that seemed to lead to the back of the store. As the group moved back, Mick was quick to grab a bag from one of the counters. He tossed a few essentials in there, including money, just in case, and they went to go find the door that lead to the basement.

They quickly made their way down, and just as the man had said, they found the trap door with a ladder that lead into the tunnel. As they started their walk down, Len couldn’t help but actually admire the idiot thieves, this had been actually quite smart of them to do.

“So Mark right?” Len heard Mick ask from behind him.

“Yeah…”

“That kid friend of yours going to be ok with you taking out his dad like that?”

“Axel? Yeah. That creep wasn’t his dad anyways. He was a thief from the Wastelands. He bought Axel as an egg, treated him like shit. Trust me, he will be happy about it. Stupid kid should have done it himself a long time ago.”

“Well, he probably grew up fearing him, didn’t know any better.”

“I guess.”

“So, this Hartley your mate?”

“No!”

Even Len had to turn and give him a look. He had been sure that he was at least his Intended from the way he was acting.

“You sure?” Mick laughed.

“He is a friend,” he growled, “my Intended is back at the village.”

“Oh,” Mick gave Len a look, and he wasn’t able to help but smirk. Mick was calling bullshit.

Mark glared at both of them, getting angrier by the minute. “He is a friend! Shawna is my Intended. I decided this three years ago!”

“Three years!?” Mick gawked.

Mark huffed, “I don’t know why I’m bothering, it’s none of your business.”

“Nope… none of my business that you decided to claim someone as your Intended THREE YEARS ago and have yet to actually bond. Instead here you are risking your life to save a FRIEND.” Mick mocked.

“Look asshole, I have known Shawna since childhood. She is the only person that doesn’t get on my nerves, so yes, she is my Intended.”

“Question,” Len could tell Mick was having way too much fun with this, “when did you meet your real mate, oh sorry, Hartley?”

Mark threw his head back, biting his lips. Mick patiently waited for his answer. Mark calmed himself and finally looked at him. “Not my mate… and two years ago.”

Mick gave out a hard laugh, making it echo through the empty tunnel.

“Two years!! Wow, you all three have to be miserable.”

“Will you just drop it! Like I said, it’s none of your business!”

“Fine, fine!” Mick waved him off.

Len was a bit happy they finally shut up, they had a long walk ahead of them and he would prefer to not have a shouting dragon in his ear the entire way.

 

After what seemed ages, they finally started to see the end of the tunnel. Len quickly turned towards Mark, stopping him in his tracks.

“Have you ever been to the Wastelands?”

“No, but I have heard stories. I know they eat us and shit and we have to pretend to be magicians.”

“Knowing and seeing are two very different things. Keep your face blank, no matter what you see, you understand?”

“Sure,” he rolled his eyes.

Len shook his head, nodding towards Mick, and they went up the latter. The first room they entered seemed to be the back of another store. Len quickly made his way towards the front where he found another old man sitting behind the counter. He looked surprised and was about to yell, but Mick acted faster and grabbed him, covering his mouth.

“Look old man, we don’t mean any harm to you, if you tell us what we want to know.”

The man looked terrified, it was obvious he was your typical thief and thought they were magicians and not actually dragons. Thieves in this area feared a magician more than anything.

“Who did you see come out of this tunnel before us?”

The old man kept looking between Mick and Len and then back at Mick. He nodded and Mick slowly released his hand that was covering his mouth.

“There were three guys that came through… one was Kyle Nimbus, he was with some guy in a cloak I didn’t recognize… and they had a guy with glasses with them…”

Len stepped forward, “that’s it, there was no one else?”

The man shivered in fear as he tried to think. “I… I.. I think maybe… I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know!?” Len growled.

“Len!” Mick glared at him. He huffed and calmed himself.

The old man looked less frightened as he thought again, “they may have been someone else, but I’m not sure because they were unconscious. He was thrown over Kyle’s shoulder, I think it was a human, he had a cloak over him so I can’t be sure.”

Barry was knocked out still? What the hell had they done to him!?

“Do you know where they were heading?” Mick continued as Len backed off.

“To the docks. They were going to take a boat heading west, at least, that is what the cloaked man said to Kyle.”

“Thanks old man,” Mick put him back down, dusting his shoulders off. The man shivered, frightened once again, thinking Mick was going to attack him. Mick just smiled and headed towards the door, Len and Mark following.

They entered the main street and realized they were right smack in the middle of the Wasteland village. They were in the market area, with all the vendors out, sellers yelling about their products, people pushing and trying to get by.

Len took one look around, remembering where the docks where, and started walking down the busy street. The thieves quickly started getting out of his way, fearing him. That was one thing he missed about the Wastelands, no thief fucked with them. What he didn’t miss was the sights. Some of the vendors had meats hanging from hooks, yelling out their prices for their most ‘tender’ slices. By the smell alone Len knew it was dragon meat. His stomach turned at the sight, but he continued on. He didn’t miss the gasp that came out of Mark, however, he did try to warn him. They passed tables filled with dragon eggs, some with baby dragons, others with dragon bones. Apparently their bones were good for a human’s libido, according to the seller, Len rolled his eyes.

Mark moved up closer to Len, until he was close enough to hear him over the loud market.

“I thought the Wastelands were nothing but plains and deserts?”

“They are,” Len confirmed.

“Then why are we heading to a dock? And how are they taking a boat!?”

“It’s not what you think, you will see.”

They pushed on further until reaching the docks. Like Mark had said, the Wastelands were nothing but desert. The villages were very far in between, so they had arranged a system to go from one to another. They built large carriages, which looked more like a small fort, to carry almost a hundred people. They called them boats. They currently were able to see the back of one that was still in the ‘dock’. The doors were still open, and people were slowly boarding it.  

“That thing is huge! How does it move!?”

“I will let you guess,” Len gritted.

They made their way towards one side, where Mark was able to finally see the front of the boat. Attached in large chains were two large dragons. Len could tell they weren’t very powerful ones, the ones on this side of the wall never were, they were just large in size. They were most likely raised here, to basically be nothing more than cattle to these thieves. Len gritted his teeth.

“They use dragons as horses!?”

“Pretty much,” Len dead panned.

“What the fuck!”

“Keep it down,” Mick intervened. “They don’t know any better. This is the only life they know. Trust me, Len and I tried a few times to free a few of these guys. They were too frightened to even move.”

“Come on,” Len nodded towards their left, where a man was sitting on a desk, taking payment from people who were boarding the boat. Len quickly cut in line, going straight to the front. “Where is this boat heading towards?”

“East,” the man barely looked at Len as he continued to take money.

“I need to go West.”

“Too bad, you missed it, it already left. There will be another one tomorrow.”

Len growled as he moved away from the table. Fuck, how were they this far behind them?

“Now what?” Mark looked at them.

“Well… we walk.” Len stomped, heading east where the boat would have gone.

“What the hell!? Can’t we just become dra... mmph!” Mick’s large hand covered his mouth quickly.

Len turned and glared at him, whispering through his teeth, “what part of don’t let them know we are dragons do you not get!? Shut the hell up!”

Mick let him go and they started walking again. Mark stayed quiet until they were a bit away from the town, and knew no one could hear.

“Well what about now, why can’t we transform?”

“Because genius, we are trying to stay low. Do you have any idea how many magicians are around this area, hidden, watching for an opportunity to catch a strong dragon?” Mick said exasperated.

“We could fight them.”

“Not our priority, we are just here for Barry and your mate and then we are out. We are not trying to start a war.”

Mark crossed his arms and huffed. Mick and Len continued walking, not even entertaining him for a moment. Mark finally growled and started jogging a bit, catching up with the group.

“Oh, you are still with us?” Mick said sarcastically.

“Shut it…” Mark pouted. It took him another two minutes to realize what Mick had said. “Hey! He is not my mate!”

Even Len had to huff a bit from how ridiculous he was.

 

They continued west, heading towards the direction they knew the boat would have gone. It was passed sunset when Mick finally started telling Len they had to stop. He knew they were all tired, but Len couldn’t even think about stopping. He needed to find Barry. Mick finally was able to talk him into stopping for the night. They found a rock formation out in the middle of nowhere and made camp there. Mick easily settled himself on the rough ground and quickly knocked out. Len decided to sit on the edge of one of the rocks, looking out in the direction they needed to continue down.

The sky was completely clear, only the moon shinning. Len couldn’t see any lights anywhere near them so he knew they were nowhere near the town the boat was heading towards.

He absentmindedly pulled out the pendant he still had around his neck. His fingers twirling the small round object as he stared into space. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep tonight. Mick had told him he needed to, but he honestly couldn’t. His body was exhausted, but every nerve inside him was still screaming for Barry and his mind wouldn’t quiet down. He needed Barry. The few times his mind would slow down, tears would threaten to come out. He couldn’t break down, he had to find Barry.

“You should be sleeping.”

Len turned and watched Mark come and sit right next to him.

“Can’t sleep without my mate.”

“Big Guy over there doesn’t seem to have a problem.”

“’Big Guy’ knows his mate is safe, I don’t.”

“Still…”

Len sighed. “Since the first night I slept beside Barry, I have never been without him. I can’t sleep. I know I should, my body wants to, but I simply can’t,” he growled, a little annoyed. Mark simply hummed. “You should sleeping, we have a long day ahead tomorrow.”

“Can’t sleep.”

“That’s so?… you sure your ‘friend’ isn’t your mate?”

“Shut up!”

Len turned back and continued looking out into the mass nothingness in front of them. His fingers rubbing against the pendant.

“The hell is that thing?”

Len side gazed him and saw he was looking at the necklace. “It’s Barry’s. I stole it from him when we first met.”

Mark looked away, glaring at nothing, “why?”

Len huffed, finally looking down at the pendant, “stupid reason.”

He glanced at Mark who looked at him expectantly. Len shook his head and went back to looking at the pendant as he started his story.

“I saw Barry for the first time as he made his way up the Temple. I fell for him the second I saw him. It still baffles me how quickly it happened. I ended up stalking him the entire time after that. There was a moment where he was outside with Mick’s mate. She was talking to him about something, I couldn’t hear, but then he pulled this out and just from the way he looked at it, I knew it was his treasure.”

“So you stole it?”

Len tightened his jaw as his emotions tried to break through again. “I…” his voice sounded rough, he needed to control himself. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I stole it, because I thought that maybe… if I had it… if I wore it… then maybe Barry would look at _me_ that same way. He would smile at _me_ the way he did when he looked at the pendant. That somehow, I… _I_ would become his treasure…”

Len ended the sentence in barely a whisper. His eyes were burning, tears threatening to come out. All he wanted was Barry back, he just wanted to see him smile again at him. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Now was not the time for him to lose control.

“Stupid, right?”

Mark never replied. Len turned to him as he glared out into the darkness, focusing on something. Before Len could actually say something, Mark dug into his boot, pulling out a small rusted pocket knife. He gazed at it a moment before finally speaking again.

“Not so stupid…”

Len couldn’t help but smirk, “Hartley’s?”

“Yeah…” He gripped it tightly before turning to Len, “he thinks he lost it while being drunk one night, but I actually took it.”

“Why?” Len knew why, but he wanted the dragon to say it.

“It was his treasure… and I wanted it.”

“You sure he isn’t…”

“Stop asking that! He is just a friend!”

Len looked away, humming. “Funny.”

“What’s funny?” Mark challenged.

“Mick is pretty close to Barry. He considers him a good friend, which is why he is here. But he also knows his mate is safe and sound back at the Temple, so he sleeps. My mate is missing, and nothing I can do will allow me to rest until I find him.”

“Your point?”

“Here you are saying Hartley is your friend, but you are acting more like me than Mick. Your Intended is safe, you should sleep.”

Mark started growling, about to yell back, but Len quickly pulled up his hand, dismissing him. “I’m not trying to fight, simply point out what I notice.”

Mark calmed himself, going back to looking at his small knife. “I… I just don’t know what to do…” Mark whispered.

“Only you can answer that. What I can tell you is that once you are with your mate, the _right_ mate, no other feeling will ever beat it.” Mark huffed, not believing him. “Nothing makes me happier than seeing his smile,” Len looked down at the pendant still in his hand. “I just hope he stays safe until I can get to him.”

They sat there silently, each looking at their own object, lost in their own thoughts.

“He will be ok, Hart is with him,” Mark broke the silence.

“Yeah?”

Mark nodded. “He may act like an ass, but he has a really big heart. He won’t let anything happen to your human.”

Len chuckled, “you sure about that, my human has a tendency to get himself into trouble, as you can see.”

“Yeah, same goes for Hart,” Mark laughed.

“Bastards, we are going to have to teach them a lesson when we get them back.”

“Hell yeah! I’m chaining Hart to my leg!”

Len laughed, “Barry is never leaving our house again!”

They laughed for a bit before quieting down, both once again going into their own heads. Len felt slightly better. Barry had always been able to take care of himself, Len just had to trust that. He was going to get him back and they were going to go back to the Temple, get their son, and head home as a family. Len nodded determinately at himself.

 _Barry, I will get you back_.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... No cliffhanger... yay!
> 
> Hope you guy enjoyed that very long chapter! I had fun writing it! Poor Len, he just wants his Barry back! This is normally the part where I say I will update next week, but sadly that won't happen. I will be going out of town next weekend so don't count on an update, but I will do my best to make it worth the wait. At least this one didn't end too badly and it was nice and long, right? hehe!
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT! I can never say that enough! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!


	17. Vengeance of a Broken Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle is finally here! Who is behind this? Why did they do it? What is their plan? Well... guess you will have to read to find out!

 

 

“Umph!”

Hartley crashed on to the hard ground as he was shoved into a cell. He quickly turned, seeing the bald guy throw the still unconscious human in. Hartley acted quickly and caught him before he hit the ground. He would have happily yelled at the guy, but his throat was still useless. Even though his healing was faster than that of a human, his throat still burned. He had just stopped coughing blood a few hours before.

He still wasn’t sure why they had taken him. He had been struggling to breathe when he watched the cloaked man touch the kid with some stone and then he was out. Hartley had been trying to wake him, but it was useless. It had to be some sort of spell, that is all Hartley could come up with. After traveling all day and night, they had arrived at some small town in the middle of nowhere. After that, they had rode in a carriage off into the desert, but soon they came upon a valley. There were large rock formations, looking like mountains, surrounding them now.

It seemed the cloaked man had some sort of small army in the mountains. There were cave entrances spread throughout the area and guards standing around. They walked inside one entrance, and Hartley tried to memorize the turns, just in case he got free, but he quickly lost his way. He was sure they were deep inside one of the mountains when they finally reached a dead end. Hartley almost laughed thinking even the cloaked man had gotten lost, but he quickly whispered some enchantment, and an entrance appeared. They were shoved inside where there was nothing but a small table and chair, and a cell in the back, where now Hartley found himself with the unconscious human.

Hartley adjusted the human and laid him down on the ground carefully. He checked him over making sure there were no injuries on him.

“Now what?” The bald man turned towards the cloaked one.

“Well Kyle, we wait, his mate should be coming soon.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Trust me.”

“And when he does?”

“I will a powerful ice dragon under my thumb.” Hartley watched as the man took the cloak off.  He was definitely a human, blond, and his smirk made him feel sick. He threw the cloak towards the small table near the cell. Without neither of them noticing, the small stone fell from it and onto the ground.

“Still confused as to why we left the egg.”

“Proved too problematic. Besides, why go for a baby when we can get daddy. Come on, we need to make sure he can find his way here. Have Tony come in here and watch these guys.”

Both men walked out the entrance. As soon as the blond man stepped out, Hartley watched as the opening turned into nothing but a wall again. He stood inside the cell, looking around to see if there was any other way to get out. The room was bare, just the table and chair, the cell, and stone walls. He saw the stone sitting near the cell and he quickly acted before their guard came in. He reached through the bars and took hold of it. It was nothing but a black stone, nothing really special to it. He kneeled beside the human and pressed the stone against him, but nothing happened. He figured as much, more than likely some sort of enchantment must be said. Still, he pocketed the stone in his jacket, it might prove useful later.

Soon a large human walked inside the cell, sitting on the small chair and lifting his legs to the table. He gave Hartley a smirk and winked at him. Hartley rolled his eyes..

 _How the fuck is he going to get out of this?_ He leaned up against the wall. Mark was probably going to be pissed, but hey, maybe now he could be happy with Shawna… now without him in the way. He could feel his eyes start to burn a little bit. It was a depressing thought to never see him again. He doubted Mark would come all the way to the Wastelands for him. He wasn’t worth that. His hope only laid on this human’s mate, and even then, it seemed that is what the guy was wanting, to lure the dragon out here. He was never going to find them here, not with that wall trick. Even if they somehow found their way to the right cave, they would just see a dead end.

Hartley felt helpless. He just wanted to go back to Mark, as stupid as that was. Mark wanted Shawna, not him.

 

~*~

 

They had reached the small village where the boat would have dropped off the thieves. Len was grumpier than ever, he didn’t sleep at all the night before, he felt drained.

“Still nothing from the kid?” Mick asked.

“Oh yeah, I sensed him and decided not to let you know!” Len growled sarcastically. He still couldn’t feel anything from Barry, not even the normal constant warmth of their bond. He felt like he was going insane without him.

“Is he always this sweet?” Mark rolled his eyes.

“This is old Len, haven’t seen the asshole in a minute.” Mick huffed. Mark gave him a questioning look. “This is how Len was always, then he met this cute little human and suddenly he was a big baby.”

“Stop talking and get to looking. We need to find out what direction they headed.”

Mick and Mark nodded. The place barely had twenty buildings. Good, Len thought, easy to find where those idiots went.

“I don’t understand though, a bond can’t be broken, can it?” Mark whispered towards Mick.

Mick shrugged, “It can’t. We need to find the kid and see what the hell they did.”

They walked around the area, asking people they saw if they had seen the thieves, but of course no one was talking. They weren’t getting anywhere until some old man came up to them, smiling evilly at them.

“Looking for your mate?” Len growled and snatched the man by the throat. “Easy there! I was coming to tell you where he is.”

“Out of the goodness of your heart?” Len snarled, not letting the man down.

“No… our boss wants you to find him.”

Len narrowed his eyes at the man without speaking. He wanted him to find him? So this was a trap to lure him out here? But why? Len put the man down and decided to listen to what he had to say, and where they had to go. After he finished talking, Len smiled and turned to Mick.

“You got all that Mick?”

“Yup!”

“You follow my instructions and you will find him, now go.” The man waved him off.

“One second,” Len grinned.

The man glared at him, seeing nothing but cold behind the dragon’s eyes. He started to panic as he quickly realized his mistake. “Now you wait a moment, I told you where he was, you can’t…”

“Can’t what?” Len growled, “kill you? You already told me everything I needed.”

“But, but…”

Len grabbed him by the throat, lifting him again, “you think for one second I’m going to let anyone involved in this live, well human, that is your mistake.”

Len tightened his grip and slowly collapsed the man’s throat. He barely let out a scream. Len took pity on the man and blasted him with ice, putting him out of his misery.

The group quickly headed in the direction the old man had pointed towards. According to him, there should be a valley or something where Barry and the kid were being held. Len was fully aware this was a trap, but he didn’t care. They did decide to split up however. Len headed directly towards the hideout, they were expecting him, so why not. Mick and Mark decided to go around. They wouldn’t be able to hide once they got close, there was nothing but desert, so they separated right after the village was no longer visible, making sure they didn’t see anyone watching them. At least this way Mick and Mark had some sort of chance on sneaking up them, while Len distracted the thieves.

Len’s blood boiled. He had no idea who the fuck had planned this, but he was going to make everyone involved pay for this. As for the boss… Len was going to be picking him out of his teeth by sundown.

 

It was afternoon by the time he finally reached the mountains. Len could see all the different entrances, but no one was around. He didn’t want to play this hide and seek shit. He walked towards the middle of the valley area, and roared, letting it echo throughout the area. Even in human form, his roar made the area tremble, few rocks rolling down. When nothing happened, he prepared to do it again, this time louder, but was quickly stopped.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” From one of the cave openings in front of him walked out a man. “You will bring down the mountain if you keep doing that shit, and you can kiss goodbye to your little mate.”

“You…” Len snarled and he stomped towards him.

The human put his hand up, “Now, now. I promise you dragon, you will never find your mate in this mountain without my help. I’m not that stupid to just walk out here without some sort of plan.”

“Who are you, why are you doing this!?”

The human smiled, “that’s right, you never got to meet me, did you? You were under Darhk’s spell during that time.”

Len narrowed his eyes at him. He remembers what the others told him about that battle. Darhk was fighting a dragon and his human mate… “Thawne?”

“Oh, so you did get to hear about me. Good, yes, I’m Thawne.”

“You must really have a death wish human. How dare you take my mate!”

“Eye for and eye is how I see it!”

“I didn’t do anything to your mate! You two were the idiots starting a war, why am I being pulled into this!?”

The human huffed and crossed his arms, studying Len before answering. “I’m aware you had nothing to do with it. To be honest, you weren’t part of the original plan at all.”

“What?” Len gritted.

“I wanted vengeance on the asshole that killed my mate! Oliver!” Thawne snarled, his voice getting louder.  

“Oliver?”

“That dragon killed my mate!” Thawne yelled. “Do you have any idea what it feels like to sense your mate die in pain!? To feel their emotions as they take their last breath and there is nothing you can do!? And like that wasn’t bad enough, now I constantly have this feeling inside me, like he is still here but isn’t!” Thawne looked away, trying to control his emotions. He inhaled deeply before turning back to Len. “I vowed that day I would make that asshole go through exactly what I was going through. I would take his mate from him and kill them slowly and let him feel every second of it. Make him feel just as helpless as I was.

“So I came back here and found a way to break the bond thanks to a few magicians. By the time I made my way to his temple, he already had found an intended. So I waited. I just needed him to bond and then I was going to take her, break the bond while I brought her here, and then while he tried to find us, I would tie their bond again just in time for him to sense her death. Simple.”

“Where did I get involved in this?”

“Well…” Thawn chuckled, “I am a thief. Let’s just say the sight of an ice hybrid was too good to pass up. Do you have any idea how much money I would have gotten for that thing?”

“That’s my son!”

“Oliver didn’t care about mine as he slaughtered my mate, why should I care about yours?”

Len wasn’t able to hide the shock in his face, “Zoom was…”

“Yes! And Oliver took that from me! He took everything! Which is why I changed the plan once again when your little mate found us. You! You will help me get vengeance on Oliver. I want you to bring that whole temple down and tear his head off while I watch.”

“I’m not your puppet!”

“Oh yes you are, if you ever want to see your mate again… you will be.”

 

~*~

 

They finally got to the hide out. They were able to come at if from the side, and from the looks of things, there were no guards around. There were a lot of entrances to the cave, but there was one that seemed particularly larger than most. 

“What now?” Mark asked.

“See that one up there? We will go in there, seems to be a main entrance.”

They quickly got up to the cave and went inside. The cave instantly split into three ways. Mick decided to head right, Mark took the middle.

“Try to remember what turns you make, this place is a maze it seems,” Mick warned.

“Yeah, got it.”

“Oh, and try not to use your power too much.”

“Why?” Mark snarled.

“If this place has this many caves, I doubt it’s very stable. One wrong attack and it will bring the whole thing down. The last thing we need is to crush the people we are trying to find! Just keep your attacks to a minimum.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Mark waved him off as he started down his path.

Mick had not been joking. Mark kept going in deeper, coming up to forks in the path, and he having to make a choice. He tried to always pick the larger looking ones, or at least the ones that seems to have footsteps on the ground. He would run into a few guards here and there. Most he was able to hide from, but the few he wasn’t able to, he quickly zapped with his lighting, taking them out. He continued on, trying to find anything that resembled a main area, or where a cell would be, but there was nothing but cave after cave.

“Dammit Hartley,” he growled to himself, “where the fuck are you!?”

He walked on, looking down at the footprints on the bit of dirt on the ground. After what seemed like eternity, he was lead to nothing but a dead end.

 

~*~

 

It had been hours since Hartley last saw the cloaked man and that bald guy. The one taking care of him, Tony, seemed to be just as bored as Hartley was. The only interesting thing that happened was the rumble they heard going around the entire mountain a few minutes back. Hartley was pretty sure it had been a roar. Could the human’s mate be here now? If so, Hartley needed to act, there was no way the dragon would find them on his own, and who knows what the man was planning on making him do in exchange for his mate.

Hartley stared at the wall that was the entrance. He just needed to get out of this place, but how? His throat still wasn’t fully healed. He figured he could do one blast. It would be weak, but enough to bring down that wall. But how…

“Ugh! This is so boring!” Tony threw his legs to the side and stood, stretching. He walked over to the cell, looking at the human unconscious and then at Hartley. He leaned into the cell, smiling at him, “you boys are awfully cute. No wonder Thawne took you.”

Hartley really wished he could snap back at him, but he kept from talking so his throat could heal faster. He simple rolled his eyes again and looked away.

“Aww, come on now cutie. Don’t be like that. You be a good boy and I will give you a treat, maybe let you stretch your legs a bit?”

Hartley looked at him and just from the look, he already knew what the guy was implying. He was about to say fuck it and cuss the guy out, hurt throat or not, until he realized he could use this to his advantage.

Instead of glaring at the man like he wanted to, he gave him a shy smile.

“That’s more like it. I have orders not to touch sleeping beauty over there, but you… I can play with you.”

Hartley got up and walked towards the bars, keeping his head down and submissive. He was about to question whether this guy was really that stupid, but then he watched with amusement as the idiot fumbled to get the keys out and unlock the cell.

Hartley walked out cautiously and turned toward Tony, who was slowly closing the cell back. Yeah… because the unconscious human was going to walk out… damn he was stupid!

Hartley gave him another smile and leaned back onto the table, motioning to the guy to come over. He grinned cocky-like and walked over, placing his hands on his hips.

“See, I will treat you nice if you treat me nice,” he leaned in and started kissing him.

Hartley tried to keep the vomit from coming up as he kissed the guy back. He needed to time this just right.

Tony’s hands started roaming his body, landing on his ass and squeezing. Hartley felt as he tried to pick him up and place him on the table, but that wouldn’t do, he needed to face the other side where the entrance was. He quickly pushed Tony off, making him glare at him, but Hartley quickly smiled mischievously and slowly turned them, this hands running down his stomach and grabbing Tony’s belt. Hartley made it a show, biting his lips as he pushed Tony against the table. He took a few steps back and motioned for him to unbuckle his pants. Tony leered at him as he started quickly undoing his belt.

Hartley moved to just the right position, making sure to get both Tony and the entrance aligned perfectly. Tony started unzipping his pants and before Hartley could see something that would haunt his nightmares, he breathed in and blasted out a sonic boom. Tony, along with the table and chair, flew back towards the wall and crashed through it, revealing the entrance.

Hartley quickly collapsed as he started coughing up blood again, his throat screaming in pain. He struggled to breath as he looked at the entrance. Through the debris, he saw Tony start to stumble up.

_Fuck, it hadn’t been enough to take him out!_

Hartley sat back and watched as Tony’s face was filled with rage. He dusted off his pants and started towards him.

“You little shiiii….” He suddenly started convulsing, his skin slowly burning and turning black, and then fell forward, lifeless.

Hartley stared as a form came forward, waving the dust flying around away from him.

“And this is why you aren’t allowed to leave my side Hart!”

Hartley couldn’t move. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Mark…?” He barely spoke.

Mark moved forward, grabbing Hartley’s arm and pulling him up into a big hug. “You made me worry you asshole.” He pulled back, placing both hands on Hartley’s face, “are you ok?”

He nodded at him as he started crying. _Mark had come for him!_ He couldn’t believe it. He buried his face in the crook of his neck, his fingers digging into the dragon’s side. Mark started kissing the side of his neck, holding him just as tight. He finally pulled back and smiled at Hartley.

“Come on, no time for this just yet, we have to get the hell out of here.”

Hartley ran to grab the keys from Tony’s body and opened the cell. Mark picked up Barry, bridal style, and they both started down the tunnel. Hartley smiled as he followed Mark.

 _He came for me_ …

 

~*~

 

Mick continued down the hallway, there weren’t much turns, mostly a straight way. He already knew this wasn’t a good sign, and it was confirmed when he reached a dead end. He sighed and started making his way back. This was a waste of time, hopefully Mark had had more luck. Guess he would just have to go towards the left this time. He was nearing the entrance where they had split up, when he was confronted by a bald man.

“Who are you?” Mick gritted.

“Your killer, you can call me Kyle.”

Mick huffed, unimpressed, “whatever hybrid.”

“Hybrid or not, you are still going to die!”

He opened his mouth and the cave quickly started getting covered in green mist. Mick backed away, not wanting to breath it in. He started to attack back with is fire, but Kyle quickly shook his head.

“My gas is flammable, wouldn’t want you bringing down the mountain now, would you?” He laughed as he continued to let the gas out.

 _Shit!_ Mick growled and continued to back up. He could see the light from the entrance up ahead, but he would have to get through this guy first. He could just tackle him, but he would be putting himself at risk.

“You came all this way for nothing.” Kyle spat.

Mick glared at him when suddenly movement from behind the hybrid caught his eye. Mark came out of the middle tunnel and looked down the hallway, seeing Mick’s stand off. He quickly raised his hands, showing Barry to him, and Hartley right behind him, and then continued walking, leaving the cave. Mick started laughing, taking Kyle by surprise.

“What’s so funny?”

Mick wiped a tear from his eyes, catching his breath, “nothing, time for you to burn.”

“You can’t use your power…”

“Sorry bud, I just say friend walk out of here with your prisoners… no need to hold back.” Mick grinned as Kyle paled.

Mick opened his mouth, blasting fire towards the hybrid. The second the flame touched the gas, the entire tunnel exploded. The area caved in, crushing the hybrid and bringing rocks on top of Mick himself.

 

~*~

 

Hartley breathed in fresh air as they ran away from entrance. He looked back worried, he didn’t know if that big guy would be ok fighting the hybrid alone. Once they were a safe distance, Hartley pulled on Mark’s arm, pointing towards the mountain again.

“He will be fine Hart…”

The explosion blasted through the side of the mountain, all the tunnels caving in. Mark and Hartley stared as rock continued falling on itself.

“MICK!!” Mark cried out, looking through the fallen rocks, but not putting Barry down. “Shit!”

The rocks finally settled, Hartley and Mark just stared, looking for any movement or sign of life. Mark went to put Barry down on the ground, to start digging, but Hartley stopped him.

There was a section of rock that was turning red rapidly, melting away. They both watched as Mick pushed the melted material out of the way and walked out of the rubble, as if nothing had happened. He strolled up to the shocked duo, a smile on his face. Hartley’s face couldn’t help but turn bright red at Mick’s state. Mark glared at the dragon.

“Ummm… your naked…”

“Of course, I just melted rock, did you think my clothes would survive that?” Mick laughed.

“Well, could you, I don’t know, cover up!” Mark snarled.

“I aint got nothing to be ashamed of,” Mick grinned and winked at Hartley, who was doing his best not to look down.

“Mick!!”

“Ok, ok!” Mick’s body started glowing as his body shifted and turned into his morphed dragon form.

“Thank you!”

“Come on, we need to let Len know we got Barry. He is about to have a field day.”

 

~*~

 

“So dragon, what do you say? It’s simple really.”

“What guaranteed do I have that Barry is safe now… and that you will return him to me if I do kill Oliver?”

“None... but you have no other choice.” Thawne grinned.

Len growled at him, making the ground shake again. All he wanted was Barry back, his mate. His fist tightened at his sides. Could he really do this? He didn’t like Oliver all that much, but enough to kill him? Last year maybe, but now…

He glared at Thawne who was now humming to himself. Len wanted nothing more than to tear that smile off his face. But he couldn’t, his hands were tied. He would do anything for Barry’s safety.

“I…” Len gritted, “I will do it.”

“Now that’s a good boy. I might have you take out a few of my other enemies while I’m at it,” he began to laugh.

Before Len could growl, he heard a roar echo through the valley. Thawne stopped laughing and looked around confused.

“What the hell is that!?”

Len felt relief as he listened to the message. He smiled widely at Thawne, “That is a message for me from my buddy.”

“Oh really!? And what’s that?”

“He has Barry.”

Thawne snarled at him, but didn’t look worried, “he may have him, but if you want your bond back, dragon, you will follow my orders!”

“There are no strings on me, human!” Len growled, his clothes ripping, as his body quickly started changing into his full dragon form.

Thawne turned and started running towards one of the tunnel entrances. Len stomped forward, following the human. His head had already become too big for the cave, but Len didn’t care. He crashed into the entrance, his claws digging into the mountain tearing it apart as his jaws snapped, teeth and tongue reaching out for the thief.

Len’s tail whipped around, bringing down the sides for the mountain. The caves started collapsing, thieves running in every direction, trying to escape the falling rocks, but unable to. Each getting either crushed by rock or the tail that continued moving around.

Len’s dug deeper, practically burying himself inside the mountain. He thrusted forward one more time and felt the thief go into his mouth. Len raised himself up, pushing all the rock and destroying the mountain completely as he popped out the top. He could feel the thief moving around inside his mouth. Len smiled as he spat him up into the air. Thawne yelled as he flew up and then started falling back down, right into Len’s mouth again. Len happily napped his mouth closed, crushing the human inside and swallowing him.

He looked around and with his tail, he brought down the last bit of remaining mountains, making sure to take out anyone that was still inside. After he felt satisfied, he morphed back to a smaller size and headed towards where Mick and the others were waiting.

They had been standing away from the mountain, Mick knew better than to stick close. Barry was lying on the ground, still out. Len ran up to him, his claws grabbing his shirt and nuzzling against his neck, taking in his scent and feeling a little bit of happiness to finally have his next to him.

“Barry,” he shook him, trying to wake him up. “Barry please!” he continued to shake him.

“Len,” Mick whispered, “we have to take him to Wells. Whatever Thawne did, it has to be magic based. He will know what to do.”

Len nodded as he stared at Barry’s sleeping face.

_Barry… I got you back._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait guys!!
> 
> Len finally found Barry! Yay... now he just needs to wake him up! Annnddd guess what guys, next chapter will be our last!... well at least for a while. I don't really want to end this story completely, but I do want to write some other stuff, so I'm taking a break from it for now. But you will get a good ending, it won't be a cliffhanger or anything like that. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all your support! I can't believe I have 102 people bookmark this story!!! Holy crap, thank you so much! Special shout out to https://yanpolosik.tumblr.com/ for once again flooring me with their artwork!!! And none of that would be possible without Kotokoshka translating the story, so than you very much!
> 
> Well, I will see you next week for the last chapter!!


	18. Happily Ever After...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len finally gets Barry back to the Temple. Hopefully Wells will know how to wake him up!

 

They group quickly made their way back to the small town. Mark was able to go in and steal some clothes for both Len and Mick so they could change back into their human form. They quickly made their way back, Len never letting go of Barry. All he wanted was to be back at the Temple so Wells could wake his mate up again. After two days traveling, and Barry not moving a muscle, they finally made it back to the wall. They didn’t bother taking the tunnel again, they just went straight to the wall where Oliver and his team were keeping watch. They quickly got them over the wall and were at the Temple in no time.

Len was guided straight to one of the empty bedrooms where he laid Barry down, Mick following close. Mark and Hartley hung back. Shawna had joined the group that went back to the Temple, so they decided to go find her instead before heading back home. Len was exhausted. Even with Barry by his side, he was still unable to rest, not until he knew he was ok. His emotions kept coming up, tears still threatening to break, but he held himself together. His priority was Barry.

Len sat next to the bed as Wells came in and started looking over Barry from the other side. Caitlin soon came in running, happy to see her mate again. Len couldn’t help but smiled as he saw them kiss, happy to see each other once more. He really wished he would be doing the same soon, he was so sick of feeling nothing. Len watched carefully as the older man studied Barry over, asking a few questions here and there. He had already been researching while Len and Mick had left, and had some ideas of what may have cause the break in their bond.

“You said the boy that was with him told you Thawne pressed something against Barry?”

“Yeah,” Len answered looking at Barry once more. 

Wells hummed, “I think I know what he did.”

“Out with it,” Len gritted, his patience was wearing thin.

“I think Thawne used a Hollow Stone.”

“The hell is that?” Mick grunted.

“It’s a black magic stone that is mostly used by magicians to capture people. When used, the stone takes the person’s soul out of their body, leaving it in a constant state of sleep, like Barry is now.”

“Then why would our bond break because of that?”

“Ask yourself what a bond is. It comes from you tying your soul to Barry’s. If Barry’s soul is no longer in his body, there is nothing for you to tie yourself to. The stone is not used for breaking a bond, but it is a side effect.”

“Whatever! Can it be reversed is all I care about!” Len growled at him.

“Yes, theoretically, once Barry’s soul is returned, so should the bond.”

“Well, do it!?” Len was really getting pissed.

Wells grabbed one of the books he had been studying, a page already marked. He read it over quickly and nodded, “seems pretty simple...” Len felt like he may finally be able to breathe, all he wanted was his Barry awake! “I just need the stone. Do you have it?”

Len felt his last bit of strength leave him. Stone?… he didn’t have any stone? He never even heard Thawne say anything…

_“he may have him, but if you want your bond back, dragon, you will follow my orders!”_

Is that what he meant? He knew Len wouldn’t get his bond without that stone, which he probably had hidden, or worse, with him at that moment…

Len’s face stared at Barry on the bed. This wasn’t fair. He had him here, right in front of him, but yet he didn’t?

Len was done. He had no words, no energy, and no Barry.

“Guess we are heading to the wastelands again.” Mick spoke after the silence. Len turned and looked at his friend who gave him a reassuring smile. “We will just go through all that rubble until we find it.”

Len huffed and nodded. He had to go back, there was no way in hell he was leaving his mate like this. He leaned in and kissed Barry on the forehead before getting up once more and started for the door. Mick quickly gave Caitlin a peck on the lips and started following him out. They were about to cross the door when they suddenly came face to face with the young hybrid, Hartley, Mark following right behind.

“Missed us that much?” Mick teased.

“Shut it Mick, he just ran off and came here.”

“Already running away from you,” Mick shook his head.

Hartley rolled his eyes. He looked at Len and smile, pulling out a small black stone and handing it to him. “Thought you might need it. Fell from the guys cloak, I had completely forgotten about it till I felt it in my pocket,” Hartley whispered, his voice rough.

Len stared at the stone in his hand and then looked up at Hartley. He grinned as he quickly grabbed the hybrid’s face and gave him a kiss on the lips. “THANK YOU!” Hartley froze, unsure of what to do.

Mark quickly pulled him back, growling, “hands off dragon!”

Len didn’t even bother responding, he grabbed the stone and quickly walked back into the room, handing the it to Wells, “wake him up, now!!”

Mark huffed, a bit angry that Len blew him off, especially after kissing Hart. He grabbed the hybrid and dragged him back out. “Come on, we need to get away from these crazy ass people.”

Mick returned to Caitlin’s side and they all watched as Wells began to read over the notes. He pressed the stone to Barry’s chest, “reditus!”

He pulled away and Len quickly sat on the edge, looking down at Barry to see if there was any sign of him waking up. His face remained still, his breathing the same, and Len felt nothing. He began to growl, turning his head to Wells.

“You did it wrong!”

“I did what the notes said to do. This might not be the right stone.”

“How the hell…” Len abruptly stopped. He felt like every nerve in his body was coming back to life. The warmth slowly spread across his body, making it hard to breath. His bond… his bond was back. He finally turned and looked at Barry. His eyebrows furrowed, nose scrunching up, a slight pout on his lips, as he finally, FINALLY started to open his eyes.

Barry focused his sight on Len above him, giving him that sleepy smile of his, “Lenny…”

Len felt the swirl of emotion, the feeling of want and love going through all of him. It was exactly what he had missed, what he wanted… his mate.

Suddenly Barry’s eyes widened and he quickly sat up, causing Len to sit back quickly to keep from bumping heads.

“THE BABY! Len!” Barry took hold of his shoulders, “did Caitlin reach you, are they safe!? There are two guys, one is bald, the other had a cloak on, but it was two!”

“Barry!” Len tried to calm him, “we know! It’s ok, our son is fine.”

“He is with Lisa,” Caitlin stepped forward, “she hasn’t let Cisco nor the egg out of her sight. As for the baby… well he has been giving all of us frost burn. Apparently he is missing his daddies.”

Barry looked around the room confused. “What…?”

“It was Thawne Kid. He broke your bond with Len and kidnapped you instead of the egg. Len and I had to go all the way to the damn wastelands to get you back.”

Barry’s eyes widened as he finally looked at Len in front of him. “Our bond broke?”

Those puppy dog eyes focused on him and Len couldn’t hold it together any longer. His eyes watered as he rushed forward and buried his face on Barry’s chest and began sobbing. “I couldn’t feel you! You were gone! I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find you! And I felt completely empty! You left me!”

Barry’s arms held him tightly, trying to shush him. He kissed the top of his head, whispering he was sorry. Len tightened his grip, wanting to get as close as he possibly could to him. Wells motioned for everyone to walk out of the room, leaving the couple alone. Before closing the door, Caitlin smiled, whispering she would bring their son in a few moments.

Barry adjusted Len up until they were both lying on their sides. Len refused to let go of Barry and continued to cry.

“I couldn’t feel you…” Len whispered.

“I’m so sorry,” Barry managed to pull his face up to look at him. “I’m sorry you had to do this alone, but I’m so proud of you.” He kissed his nose, “thank you for saving me.”

“You are my mate, I will follow you till the end of the earth if I have to.”

“Well you won’t have to, I’m never leaving your side.” Barry pressed their lips together, causing Len to shiver and Barry to chuckle.

There was a small knock on the door and Caitlin peeped in. She walked carefully towards the bed, the egg in her arms.

“I have a very grumpy baby here.”

Barry sat up and took hold of him, sighing in relief as he felt the connection with his son reunited once more. Caitlin had not been joking, he was very grumpy. She left the small family alone once again and Barry laid down with the egg tucked between them. Len wrapped his arm around them both, holding them tight, as his exhaustion finally started taking over.

“Both of you stay right here,” he grumbled as he closed his eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere my mate, rest now.”

Len hummed in agreement, feeling relaxed as he felt both Barry’s emotions and his son’s around him. He finally had his family back.

 

~*~

 

Mark continued pulling Hartley until they reached the small room that had been assigned to them. They were just staying one night at the Temple and then they were heading home. They would all prefer to head home right away, but the Keepers were giving Hart some medicine for his throat, so Mark couldn’t complain too much.

Hartley wasn’t sure how to feel at the moment. He still couldn’t believe Mark came for him, he was so happy, but then again, here he was again, in the middle. He really needed to find a way to leave, he had to, he was just in the way. Hartley finally looked up and realized Mark was staring at him, deep in thought. He needed to do this, he had to tell Mark the truth and tell him he had to leave so he and Shawna could be together.

“Mark… I think…”

“Shush! I’m trying to figure out how to say this.”

Hartley looked at him, was he going to ask him to leave? Had he finally got enough of him? Probably… after all the shit he just put him through. Hartley took a deep breath, “I think it’s best if I leave.”

Mark glared at him. He pursed his lips as he started shaking his head. Hartley went to speak once again but he didn’t get the chance. Mark pulled him in by his face and pressed their lips together. His tongue dashed out, demanding to be let in. Hartley willingly let him as he began to kiss back with just as much force. Mark’s whole body shivered and he pulled away, looking confused.

“What the fuck was that?”

Hartley just stared at him with amusement. “Have you never shivered before? Dragons normally do that, even I know that Mark.”

“No! Why the fuck would I shiver?”

Hartley blushed, “it usually means you’re really happy… did you never do that with Shawna?”

Mark shook his head, just studying Hartley for a moment. He finally smiled as he pulled him close again, “damn assholes were right, you are my mate.”

He dived back into Hartley’s mouth, growling possessively. Hartley wrapped his arms around his shoulders and kissed back as hard as he could. His mind was racing, knees were weak. He was kissing Mark! He couldn’t believe this.

“About time you idiots got together!”

The pair quickly pushed each other away and looked at the entrance of the room where Shawna stood. Hartley felt sick, he liked Shawna a lot, like a sister. He didn’t want to betray her like that yet here he was making out with her Intended. Both Mark and Hartley started to speak at once, apologizing, but Shawna put her hand up, silencing both. She walked up to Mark and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Mark, I love you, but picking someone to be your intended because ‘you aren’t that annoying’ isn’t a good idea. I knew I just had to wait and you would finally realize that. I thought it would happen the second you brought Hartley in, but apparently you were too hard headed to realize it still.” She turned to Hartley, giving him a strong hug and kiss on the cheek. “I’m so glad you are ok Hart.”

“You aren’t mad?”

“Why did you think I kept pushing and making comments,” She laughed. “Now it’s your job to keep this asshole in check.”

“You are really ok with this?” Mark asked confused.

“Yes, I want both of you happy. I will find my own prince charming, one who truly wants me for me.” She walked towards the entrance of the room. “Though, until then, if you guys want a third, I will happily volunteer,” she winked as she grabbed the door and shut it on her way out.

Both Mark and Hartley stood there silently, unsure of what to say. Mark finally turned to him and smiled. He pulled him in again, his hand caressing his cheek, “I’m sorry for taking so long.”

Hartley smiled as he nodded, “yeah… So does that mean I’m your Intended now?” Hartley felt his stomach flip at the thought.

“For the next few minutes.”

“Minutes?”

Mark picked him up bridal style, walking over to one of the beds and tossed him in. He climbed on top, pressing his whole body against him.

“I’m not taking any chances, I’m making you mine now.” He dipped down and kissed him. 

Hartley smiled, “ok… my mate.”

Mark shivered once more. He buried his face against the crook of Hartley’s neck. “Fuck!! This is so stupid, why do I have to shiver!!”

Hartley just laughed. Torturing Mark just became a lot easier.

 

~*~

 

It was about three days later by the time they finally made it home, and Len couldn’t be happier. Despite finally getting some sleep, he wanted to get his family away from that damn wall as soon as possible. Now he could finally rest easy.

They group arrived pretty late, everyone headed straight to bed. Barry had wanted to bathe before bed, so he headed over to the communal bath inside the Temple with their son. If he thought he was going alone, he was quite wrong.

Len managed to sneak inside the bath and get into the spring. Barry was on the edge, facing out, his head laying on his arms as he looked at their egg that was sitting on a pile of blankets near the spring. Len walked slowly towards him, trying not to let the water move too much and give him away. He was just about to finally reach him when…

“You can’t really sneak up on me you know.”

Len pouted and huffed. He still leaned in and pressed himself against Barry, kissing the side of his neck. “How did you know?”

“I can sense your feelings. You being super excited usually means you are doing something bad. Then I felt you get horny, so I knew you were in here,” Barry laughed.

Len’s hands started going up and down Barry’s body as he continued to kiss his shoulder and neck. “Can you blame me? My mate is just sitting here, looking beautiful, and naked, and all alone…”

“Len! We can’t.”

“No one will know,” Len’s hands wondered down, taking hold of Barry’s member. He started massaging him, slowly hardening him. Barry threw his head back, his mind was already getting hazy. Len loved having his effect on him.

“But…”

“I need you my mate.” Len grinded himself against Barry, letting him feel how hard he already was.

He held Barry tight against him with one hand as his other continued to pump him. Barry’s hands reached back, pulling Len’s head closer as he kissed his neck. He finally let go of Barry and moved his hand back, dipping between his cheeks and pressing on the small puckered hole. The warm water around them made it easy for Len to slip his finger inside. Barry moaned pushing his hips back, wanting to feel more. Len started nibbling on his ear, his finger pumping in and out.

“More!” Barry whined.

Len pressed a second one in, enjoying the noises that were now coming out of Barry non-stop. He threw his head back again, leaning to the side to give Len a kiss. Len finally let out a small growl, loving the feel of his fingers inside him. He couldn’t wait until he had his cock in there. He thrusted the third finger without warning, but Barry took it, is own need getting the best of him as well.

“Come on Lenny!”

“Patience love.”

“Please, _my mate_!”

Len groaned at that. Fuck Barry knew what that did to him. He quickly pulled his fingers, not wanting to wait any longer. He pulled Barry’s face towards him again and kissed him deeply. He guided himself to Barry’s entrance and started to push in, letting the head slowly press inside, opening Barry up.

Barry broke the kiss as he began to moan, the sound echoing through the bathroom. Both his hands went forward and braced against the edge of the spring. Len continued to push in, slowly, enjoying the feel of having Barry all around him. He finally hissed as he bottomed out. He leaned forward a bit, kissing the back of Barry’s neck, both his hands caressing his chest before settling around his hips. Barry’s pushed back, groaning at the feel of Len inside him.

Len moved his hips ever so slightly forward, giving him small thrusts as Barry began to feel more comfortable. He was soon pulling almost all the way out and back in, keeping a steady pace. Len pushed hard each time he bottomed out, burying himself as deep as he could into his mate.

The room began to be filled with nothing but the sound of splashing water and their moans. Len was pretty sure if anyone just passed by the front door they would hear them, but he was too far gone to care. He pulled Barry up, their bodies flushed together, as he thrusted harder into him.

“Lenny!”

He knew he was hitting the right spot. He took hold of Barry’s cock and started pumping him. He could feel Barry start to tighten around him as he got closer to his climax. There was nothing more that Len enjoyed than the feel of his mate cumming as he was inside him. Well maybe second, Barry cumming inside Len would always be his favorite.

He thrusted faster, using every muscle he had to hold Barry as he started to go limp, just letting Len take over completely. His thumb started caressing Barry’s head as he pumped harder and he was done. Barry’s whole body convulsed as he reached his orgasm. Len felt him tightened up and followed him over the edge, emptying himself inside him.

Barry threw his head back, his entire weight on Len now, trusting him to keep him up. Len lazily kissed his shoulder and neck, moving up to his cheek and smiling. They both enjoyed their moment of peace, that wonderful floating feeling that was their bond. Len could live in this moment forever, his mate in his arms, their bond feeling stronger than ever.

But alas, they needed to get out and go to bed. Len helped Barry out of the spring and dried him off.

“We really shouldn’t have done that in there Len,” Barry finally spoke as he picked up their son.

“It’s fine. That spring has constant new water coming out and running out the side. By morning it will be fresh and new.” Barry looked at him skeptically. Len leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, “come on Love, lets get you to bed.”

They got dressed and made their way out of the Temple towards their little home. Once inside, Len quickly locked the door and made sure every window was locked as well. He wasn’t taking any chances. This was the first real sleep he would have since this whole shit happened. By the time he made it to the bedroom, Barry was already cuddled in the bed with their egg. Len closed the bedroom door and got into bed, spooning right behind Barry. One arm went under him, holding him close, while the other started caressing his son. He could feel he was asleep already.

“Good night my treasures,” Len nuzzled close.

“Good night my mate.”

Len closed his eyes. It was good to be back home.

 

~*~

 

Barry woke up and instantly felt annoyed. The weight that had been behind him all night was gone. He heard a soft chuckle, making him open his eyes and see Len kneeling by the bed in front of him.

“Not so much fun when it’s you who wakes up to an empty bed?”

“Why are you up?”

“Had to get some supplies ready,” Len smiled. Barry gave him a confused look, watching as Len looked down at their egg tucked in Barry’s arms and then back up at him, his smile getting bigger.

Barry slowly sat up and looked at the egg more closely. On the side facing away from him there was a large crack. Barry panicked for a moment until he heard his mate laugh. Len stood and got on the bed, sitting next to Barry and looking down at the egg.

“He has been at it for hours. The hard part is done though, the finally managed to break the shell.”

Barry watched as he could see part of the egg slightly move. The shell only had one large crack, so it was still holding pretty strong.

“Should we help?”

“No, he has to do it,” Len leaned in and kissed his cheek. “It helps builds his strength.”

Barry still felt like he should do something. Not to mention he wanted to see his son. They sat there quietly, watching the slow process until the silence was broken by the tiniest growl, followed by a tiny foot kicking through the shell.

Barry squealed, the foot was so tiny and cute!

“I think you and I are going to have our hands full with this little guy,” Len laughed.

“What did you expect? Look at who the dads are,” Barry smiled at Len.

With is new found strength, the baby’s arms were next, breaking the rest of the shell to pieces. One large piece fell on top of his face, still covering him from Barry. Len leaned in, carefully taking the shell piece off and revealing their son.

Barry’s heart stopped.

He was closer to a three month old versus a newborn. His eyes were already wide open and he smiled widely at his dragon father above him.

“Oh I’m in trouble,” Len chuckled, “you got your daddy’s green eyes.” He slowly picked him up, holding him up in the air, “you are going to have me wrapped around your finger.”

The baby giggled and wiggled around, until he looked back and noticed Barry. Suddenly he was reaching out for him, smiling brightly.

“Oh no, not yet, we have to clean you up first.” Len got off the bed and grabbed one of the towels he had brought over. He laid the baby on top of the towell, and with a soaked wash cloth, the started wiping the baby down.

The small hybrid kept reaching for Barry, quickly growing frustrated at Len. He looked up at him, pouting, threatening to start crying.

“I know you want your daddy, he is irresistible, but we have to clean you up first. Then you can go to daddy. But remember, you have to share him with me though, ok?”

Barry didn’t know what was cuter, the fact that Len was baby talking their son, or their son giving him a huff, like saying ‘no’ to his question.

Len quickly finished wiping him down as the baby really did start crying. He wrapped him around a new blanket before picking him back up and finally handed him to Barry.

Barry sucked in a breath as he finally held his son. The baby quickly stopped crying and smiled again, giggling at his human father. Barry had no words, he just stared at this tiny little precious thing that was his son.

He felt Len move round the room, taking away all the supplies and cleared the bed of the old blanket and egg shell pieces. He finally returned and got in the bed, right next to Barry. He wrapped one arm around Barry’s waist as the other pinched their son’s cheek.

“He is perfect, isn’t he?” Len whispered. Barry’s eyes were now watering, he simply nodded. “I want another one!”

Barry laughed, shaking his head, “can we at least name our first child before we plan on more?”

Len smiled at him, giving him a quick peck, “fine, but then you are giving me another one, and another, and another…”

Barry giggled as he finally silenced him with a kiss. He looked down at his son who was now yawning. Guess breaking through that egg took it out of him. Barry still couldn’t believe he had a son.

“I now have a second treasure,” he smiled.

Len laughed as he pulled off the necklace around his neck. “Well then it’s only fitting that the two should be together.” He handed the pendant to Barry who looked at it confused.

“You think my other treasure is the necklace?”

“Yeah, it’s your most precious thing.”

Barry laughed, “Why would you assume the necklace and not you? You’re my mate.”

Len shrugged, “you can still love other things, but that doesn’t make it your treasure.”

Barry grabbed Len by the chin, giving him a stern look, “Len, none of this would be possible without you. You have given me a home and a son. You are my love, my mate, my most precious thing on this planet. You Leonard, are my biggest _treasure_ , and no one will ever change that.”

Len’s eyes began to water, he sucked in a breath as a small smile came to his face, “I am?” he barely managed to say.

“Yes. I would be nothing without you.”

Len laughed as he leaned in kissed Barry on the lips, “you have no idea how much I wanted to hear you call me that.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you knew.”

Len hugged him tightly, rubbing his face against his shoulder, “I love you my mate.”

“And I love you, my mate, my love, my treasure… my silly little dragon.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~End!... for now!
> 
> So yeah, I def want the baby to be named Michael, but I left that part out, just didn't like how it messed up the flow of the conversation. But yes, this will be the last chapter for a while. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Now that I have shown off all the artwork, I'm going to go through and place them in where they match best! hehe!
> 
> Words cannot describe how much having you all read and comment on this story has meant to me. Thank you so much for all your support and I hope you guys enjoy my next stories just as much! Thank you, thank you, than you!!!

**Author's Note:**

> So I have loved reading the few coldflash dragon stories I have found, but I always felt like I wanted more, so I figured why not just write one. I started writing this a while back, taking a little from here and there and then making up the rest. Let me know if you guys are interested in me continuing with it. This chapter really just laid down the basis, the next one is where Len will finally come in. Thanks for reading my crazy story!!


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